House GOP leaders tangle with holdouts on budget plan
House Speaker Mike Johnson confident he can win over small group of holdouts worried about spending cuts
Editor’s note:
Welcome to Hill Pass, from ace Congressional correspondent Juliegrace Brufke!
I’m excited to welcome Juliegrace to the 24sight family. If you’re a regular reader, you’re probably familiar with her byline. Nobody knows the halls of Congress better than Juliegrace, a longtime Hill reporter who’s as plugged in as they get.
Look for her regular dispatches and more as we keep making heads and tails of the second Trump term.
Cheers,
Tom LoBianco
Editor, 24sight News
WASHINGTON _ House Republican leaders are navigating new roadblocks inside their narrow majority as they look to pass a budget needed to bypass the filibuster in the Senate and tackle President Trump’s top priorities in Congress.
Trump is lobbying House members to approve the Senate-passed measure, with both chambers needing to pass a budget to get the ball rolling on the president’s “one big beautiful bill,” which looks to address tax cuts, energy reforms and border security.
But conservatives in the House Republican conference are digging in their heels on the Senate measure shipped to the House late Saturday. The chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, Rep. Andy Harris, (R-Md.), told reporters he wouldn’t even accept an invite to the White House Tuesday.
"There's nothing that I can hear at the White House that I don't understand about the situation,” with his comments marking one of the first notable breaks with conservatives and the president since he took office.
The Trump administration is arguing lawmakers should rally around the bill so they can floor the gas on passing key parts of his agenda.
Speaker Mike Johnson has said he plans to push a vote on the Senate-approved budget plan, even if the votes are not already there in his conference this week, And House Democrats are united in opposition to the measure, with Republicans only able to spare two votes.
"That sounds uncharacteristic of Dr. Andy Harris, he's a very reasonable guy," Johnson said of Harris' decision not to attend the White House meeting.
The Republicans’ hardball tactics come amid one of the most chaotic turns yet in the second Trump administration. Sweeping tariffs – taxes on imports – and the threat of new tariffs, sent U.S. markets into a tailspin last week, not seen since the COVID pandemic.
Please RSVP here, we look forward to seeing you.
Legal fights over sweeping claims of immigration powers, including the story of a Maryland man the Trump administration says it can’t retrieve from a Salvadoran supermax prison, have jammed the courts all the way up to the Supreme Court.
And political pressure has been mounting, with Democrats making a strong showing in a pair of Florida special elections, a critical win in a pricey Wisconsin state supreme court battle and waves of protesters hitting the streets in American cities last weekend.
At the core of the Congressional budget haggling is the debate over whether they should use one measure to approve Trump’s second-term priorities, including border security, tax cuts, and energy reforms. Or break them into votes on separate measures.
As House Republicans gathered for their weekly private deliberations Tuesday morning, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) voiced his opposition, with House Republican sources projecting roughly a dozen members will likely vote against it.
House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) advocated for the two chambers to go to conference on the measure.
"I mean if we got the votes for it, let's go, but I don't think we do. So, let's go to conference, iron it out—that's how the process works," said Jordan, who confirmed he would vote for the bill in its current form. "I would vote for it because I want to move the thing forward. But I don't know that there's enough of our members who will vote for it, so it seems to me when you're here, they're there, you go to conference and you figure it out."
House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) has also railed against the plan, with lawmakers outside the usual rabble-rousers indicating they take issue with the bill.
"By the way, if you all know anybody who wants to be Budget chairman," he joked while walking into the weekly House GOP conference meeting.
 |
|
“Trump’s second-term priorities, including border security, tax cuts, and energy reform.” Oh please.
Border security = no more brown people. Tax cut = larger Republican donations. Energy reform = no oversight into bad practices. Why dignify red cap lies?
Such great reporting from Juliegrace!! Funny and smart. Thanks!