The House Budget Committee unveiled a fiscal blueprint for Republicans’ sweeping domestic policy legislation Wednesday that would allow for at least $4.5 trillion in tax cuts while slashing spending by at least $1.5 trillion over the coming decade.
The draft budget resolution also provides for as much as $300 billion in new border and defense spending and would allow Republicans to raise the debt limit by $4 trillion.
The move comes ahead of an expected markup Thursday and after months of back-and-forth between Republicans on how to proceed with enacting President Donald Trump’s agenda, including tax cuts, border and energy policy.
House Speaker Mike Johnson expressed confidence Wednesday that the draft blueprint could pass the committee, setting it up for floor action later this month after lawmakers return from a one-week President’s Day recess.
If House Republicans can push their budget out of committee on Thursday, they will then need to lock in support from nearly every GOP lawmaker in the chamber in order to approve the budget on the floor.
The House and Senate need to pass identical budget resolutions to move forward on reconciliation legislation, which can avert a Senate filibuster and pass with a simple majority in both chambers.
Notably, the reconciliation instructions embedded in the draft blueprint call on the House Energy and Commerce Committee to cut at least $880 billion in spending, meaning lawmakers would likely need to enact deep cuts into Medicaid — going beyond the work requirements that most Republicans support. Those are likely to set off a significant backlash from moderate Republicans and GOP governors, since they would mean states would have to foot more of the bill for the program and could lead to patients losing benefits.
The $4.5 trillion figure for tax cuts is less than what Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) had sought, and it will likely force tax writers to make tough decisions about extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act while also pursuing other Trump tax priorities, such as exempting tips from federal income tax.
Across the Capitol, Senate Republicans are readying a backup plan in case House Republicans fail to show quick progress on their own proposal. While House GOP leaders debuted their budget on Thursday, Senate Budget Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) was marking up his version, a fiscal blueprint written to tee up the first bill in Senate Republicans’ two-step strategy to first enact border security, defense and energy policy before turning later to extending the 2017 tax cuts.
Graham made a plea to House Republican leaders on Wednesday, asking them to consider the Senate’s slimmer approach if they falter in trying to advance their own.
“To my Republican colleagues in the House: I’m pulling for one big, beautiful bill. But there’s a sense of urgency,” Graham said as his panel started its meeting to approve the Senate’s budget. “I hope you will consider what we do, if you cannot produce the one big, beautiful bill quickly.”
