House Republicans are racing to show progress on their budget plans as they try to stave off pressure from the Senate to switch to a two-bill approach while postponing tax cuts until later this year.
Following a marathon day of meetings, Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters late Thursday night that he hopes the House Budget Committee could hold a markup on reconciliation instructions next Tuesday. That would be a big step forward on unlocking President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda.
“We are very, very close, and I’m very optimistic and happy about it,” Johnson said as he exited his Capitol office following a two-hour-plus meeting with other GOP leaders, House committee chairs and hardline conservatives.
Johnson said “Tuesday is the target” for a markup.
Johnson also said House Republicans are aiming to unveil their framework as soon as today, although — as is the case with everything around here — that timeline could slip.
However, House GOP Leaders are eager to put something on paper before Senate Republicans trek to Mar-a-Lago for their own meeting with Trump this evening.
Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is still planning to move forward with his “skinny” budget resolution that includes $150 billion for defense, another $150 billion for border security and energy policy changes. This amount would be fully offset.
Johnson made clear once again that he wants the House — with its razor-thin margin of GOP control — to go first with one big bill. When asked whether the Senate should hold off and let the House lead the way on a markup, Johnson said, “I certainly hope so.”
House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) said that the group of Republicans who’d been working to hammer out reconciliation instructions all day were “getting really close” on details.
“Early next week we will know if we’ve got a deal that’s ready to be marked up,” Arrington said.
House GOP Conference Chair Lisa McClain said the resolution was “not 100% resolved” but that there were “very, very, very few” details to iron out.
The details. One of the biggest sticking points for House Republicans has been the level of spending cuts. House GOP leadership had initially proposed $500 billion to $1 trillion, but conservative hardliners have been pushing for at least $2.5 trillion in cuts.
While that final number is still under discussion, there was consensus in the room that they will need to cut more than $1 trillion in order to get conservative hardliners on board, according to a GOP source familiar with the matter. The House Freedom Caucus had their own huddle Thursday night to talk things over.
Other issues that remain unresolved include how to address the cap on deducting state and local taxes and whether to include a suspension of the debt ceiling, both of which were discussed during the Thursday meeting at the White House, according to attendees.
Republicans did, however, agree that Trump’s 2017 tax cuts should be permanently extended. Trump also laid out several other tax priorities he wants to see in the package, including eliminating taxes on tips, Social Security benefits and overtime pay. And Trump threw in new tax priorities like getting rid of sports team owners’ tax breaks.
Senate full steam ahead. Senate Republicans don’t look like they’re backing down from plans to mark up a budget resolution for a border, defense and energy-focused package next week. That would leave a tax bill to get done later in the year.
Senate Republicans plan to talk about their budget resolution and the path forward during a meeting with Trump tonight, Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso told reporters.
In response to Graham moving ahead, Arrington pointed to Trump’s support for the House’s one-bill approach right now. But Arrington acknowledged that if Trump changes his mind or feels a need for border money faster, “we’d certainly want to accommodate the president.”
