Washington — House Republicans narrowly adopted a budget proposal late Tuesday that serves as a blueprint for implementing President Trump’s agenda, a dramatic turn of events after a group of holdouts threatened the razor-thin Republican majority’s plan.
In a 217-215 vote, the House adopted the resolution, with just one Republican joining all Democrats to oppose it. The resolution now goes to the Senate, which has been pursuing its own budget proposal.
But the two chambers must adopt the same budget plan to move forward with the budget reconciliation process — a complicated maneuver that allows Congress to bypass the 60-vote threshold typically required in the Senate.
Here’s what to know about the budget resolution:
What’s in the House GOP budget plan?
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The budget resolution directs congressional committees to craft their own proposals to hit spending targets, increasing or decreasing funding by adjusting programs and policies that fall under their purview. Republicans want to cut trillions of dollars in spending to pay for trillions in tax cuts, while increasing funding in some areas.
Though Senate Republicans have pushed for two bills to address Mr. Trump’s priorities, House Republicans are pursuing one major bill to address border security, defense and energy priorities, along with $4.5 trillion in tax cuts.
Their plan calls for at least $1.5 trillion in spending cuts over a 10-year period and instructs a number of committees to find ways to reduce their budget impact, while increasing spending for several other issue areas. The House Ways and Means Committee is tasked with implementing the $4.5 trillion in tax cuts over a decade. The resolution would also raise the debt ceiling by $4 trillion.
Here are the areas where spending would increase:
- Up to $110 billion in additional spending for the Judiciary Committee
- Up to $100 billion for the Armed Services Committee
- Up to $90 billion for the Homeland Security Committee
Here are the committees that are tasked with finding the cuts:
- At least $880 billion by the Energy and Commerce Committee
- At least $330 billion by the Education and Workforce Committee
- At least $230 billion by the Agriculture Committee
- At least $50 billion by the Oversight and Government Reform Committee
- At least $10 billion by the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
- At least $1 billion by the Financial Services Committee
- At least $1 billion by the Natural Resources Committee
The final product must be deficit-neutral to comply with reconciliation rules, and Republicans are relying on economic projections that show the tax cuts would spur economic growth that would increase tax revenues. Those projections have been questioned by outside experts and Democrats who describe them as overly optimistic. One analysis found that the budget proposal would allow for a deficit increase of $2.8 trillion through 2034.
Opposition to the proposed cuts
Opponents of the resolution have pointed to the proposed cuts, arguing that they implicate key programs that Americans rely on. Medicaid in particular has come under the microscope — the Energy and Commerce Committee oversees Medicaid, and the $880 billion it is tasked with saving would almost certainly require cuts to the entitlement program.
House Republican leadership has stressed that Medicaid isn’t specifically mentioned in the budget resolution, noting that Tuesday’s vote was one simply to begin the reconciliation process. But House Speaker Mike wouldn’t commit to preserving Medicaid in its entirety as the reconciliation process continues. Johnson said cuts to the program would target “fraud, waste and abuse” within the program. Other Republicans have said that benefits would not be cut.
Under an amendment to the House budget resolution aimed at placating conservatives, House committees must achieve at least $2 trillion in spending cuts in order to secure the proposed $4.5 trillion in tax cuts. But if they slash more than $2 trillion, tax cuts would be increased.
The budget reconciliation process
The budget reconciliation process is a tool used sparingly to work around the 60-vote threshold needed to pass most legislation in the Senate, allowing the party in the majority to approve legislation without support from the minority. But the maneuver is a complicated one, requiring lawmakers to first approve a budget resolution before directing committees to craft bills reconciling spending with the new budget goals.
The final product of the reconciliation process can only include provisions dealing with taxes, spending or the debt limit, and any new spending must be paid for. The Senate parliamentarian must also sign off on the package, confirming that the provisions have direct budgetary consequences, if an item is challenged.
Democrats in the majority approved two major packages under budget reconciliation during the Biden administration — a pandemic aid package and the Inflation Reduction Act. In 2017, Republicans in the majority approved tax cuts under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in the first Trump administration. Also during Mr. Trump’s first term, Republicans tried and failed to use the reconciliation process to repeal portions of the Affordable Care Act.
