Speaker Mike Johnson successfully pushed through a budget blueprint in the House by a narrow vote of 217-215. The resolution, totaling trillions of dollars, is a crucial step for Republicans to advance President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda. Throughout the day, there was drama with House Republican leaders initially canceling the vote before abruptly bringing it back up and securing the necessary votes.
The House’s resolution, endorsed by Trump, now puts pressure on the Senate to pass the same blueprint to move forward with Trump’s policy priorities. Under reconciliation, both chambers must pass the same budget resolution for committees to draft the legislative package. The House resolution includes $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, $2 trillion in spending cuts, and over $100 billion in new spending on immigration enforcement and the military, with potential cuts to federal programs like Medicaid.
Democrats opposed the GOP budget, criticizing it as a tax cut for the wealthy that hurts working-class families. Despite initial opposition from a small group of conservatives and moderates over spending concerns and Medicaid cuts, some eventually softened their stance with the help of meetings with Johnson and calls from Trump. In the end, three GOP detractors flipped their votes to support the resolution.
The Senate must now also adopt the budget resolution in order for committees to craft a party-line bill that can bypass the Senate’s 60-vote hurdle. Failure to pass the resolution would mean no extension of Trump’s tax cuts, as the Senate’s version, focused on border security and military funding, would not pass the House.
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