House GOP regroups after budget bill tanks
Lawmakers planning Sunday evening work with Memorial Day deadline
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WASHINGTON _ Top Republicans are scrambling to regroup after a bloc of conservative hardliners tanked a House Budget Committee vote on President Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” Friday, marking the latest headache for GOP leaders trying to advance a sweeping legislative package that underpins key parts of Trump’s agenda.
The bill failed in a 16-21 vote, forcing House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) to gavel out as Republicans strategize on a path forward.
The panel is set to reconvene at 10p.m. on Sunday “just to reconsider the vote and vote on the motions to instruct. Shouldn’t take too long,” one senior GOP source told 24sight News.
Leaders — who are navigating razor-thin margins with little room for failure — are walking a tightrope attempting to balance demands from fiscal hawks with the interests of swing-district Republicans. Conservatives have slammed the package for not doing enough to reduce the deficit and are pushing for stricter changes to Medicaid. Meanwhile, lawmakers from high-tax blue states are demanding relief on the SALT cap — a sticking point for the party’s right flank.
“I expect the next step is to work on addressing some of the concerns raised by the Republicans who voted no. These particularly include that the deficit reduction is not enough and that what deficit reduction there is included is so heavily weighted to the end of the 10-year window,” Rep. Ron Estes (R-Kan.) told 24Sight.
Trump attempted to strong-arm holdouts on social media ahead of the vote — but came up short.
“Republicans MUST UNITE behind ‘THE ONE, BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL!’” Trump posted on Truth Social. “It cuts Taxes for ALL Americans and kicks millions of Illegal Aliens off Medicaid. If this fails, taxes go up 65%. The Country will suffer. STOP TALKING, AND GET IT DONE!”
Five Republicans — Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas), Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), Josh Brecheen (R-Okla.), Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), and Lloyd Smucker (R-Pa.) — voted against advancing the bill in committee. Critics argue the measure lacks teeth on deficit reduction and fails to reflect the priorities conservatives were promised.
The Freedom Caucus argued the revolt was a strategic pause, arguing further negotiations need to be had.
“Reps. Roy, Norman, Brecheen, Clyde and others continue to work in good faith to enact the President’s Big Beautiful Bill,” the group posted on X. “We were making progress before the vote and will continue negotiations. We’re not going anywhere.”
Smucker, who ultimately supports the bill, changed his vote at the last minute in a procedural move to keep the door open for another vote.
“To be clear—I fully support the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB),” Smucker said in a statement. “My vote today was to preserve the committee’s ability to reconsider the motion.”
Despite the setback, Republicans aren’t ready to throw in the towel.
“I think we get it done Monday,” one senior committee source said.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has said he would like the mega-bill to clear the House by Memorial Day.
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Wouldn’t it be nice if, to protect against further waste, House Republicans would voluntarily cut their own health coverage … seeing as Medicaid is so awful and socialistic.