On Thursday, the House of Representatives passed a package that would lay the groundwork for a huge conservative policy change, marking a huge win for President Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.
After an all-nighter of discussions between House GOP leaders and fiscal hawks who were against the bill’s spending reduction levels, the measure finally passed Thursday morning with a mainly party-line vote.
The measure was approved by a vote of 216 to 214 with the dissenting votes of two Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.). As anticipated, not a single Democrat backed it. On Thursday morning, Johnson and John Thune, the Republican leader of the Senate from South Dakota, attempted to calm conservatives’ fears by holding a news conference.
“I’m happy to tell you that this morning, I believe we have the votes to finally adopt the budget resolution so we can move forward on President Trump’s very important agenda for the American people,” said Johnson. Several promises are part of our first grand and lovely reconciliation package here. We will discover ways to save the American people at least $1.5 trillion without cutting vital programs, which is one of our goals.
“Regarding the savings outlined in the House’s budget resolution, we are aligned with them,” Thune continued. A sum of $1.5 trillion has been mentioned by the speaker. Quite a few of our senators have that view, at the very least.
This follows the abrupt cancellation of Wednesday’s planned vote on the proposal by over a dozen Republicans who refused to budge from their original positions.
In interviews with reporters following the vote, a number of voters who remained undecided attributed their decision to Thune’s public endorsement.
Republican Representative Andy Ogles of Tennessee told HeadlinesForever Digital, “As a chief ally of the president and advocate for his agenda, my colleagues and I worked diligently with the Speaker and Senate Leadership to achieve a historic $1.5 trillion agreement to cut spending.” So said Ogles. “There is much work ahead, but we are committed to working together and restoring fiscal accountability to Washington DC.”
“We have now three strong statements from the speaker, the president and the Senate Majority Leader,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said to reporters. Those weren’t available to us 48 hours ago. Now we do.
Using the budget reconciliation process, Republicans in Congress are aiming to radically reform conservative policies. Significant changes to economic and budgetary policy can be passed by the party in power with as few as 51 votes instead of the previous 60.
Here, Republicans want more money for military, border security, and the debt ceiling, while cutting expenditure on green energy initiatives from the Biden administration and other parts of the federal government, maybe even entitlement programs.
Also, before the year ends, the provisions of Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 will expire, so Republican legislators are trying to prolong them. In addition, Trump’s plans to do away with taxes on tips and overtime will necessitate more financing.
At least $1.5 trillion in expenditure cutbacks were proposed by the House earlier this year as part of their version of the proposal, with the goal of reducing the national debt—which stands at more than $36 trillion—and offsetting the increased spending. A substantial disparity must be filled; although, the Senate’s proposal is quite similar to the House’s, it requires cutbacks of at least $4 billion.
While Johnson huddled in a back room with holdouts, members became agitated on the House floor during an unrelated vote that remained open for more than an hour on Wednesday night.
A Republican member of Congress confided in HeadlinesForever Digital that they were dissatisfied with Johnson’s handling of the situation.
“He kept the entire conference out on the floor for 80 minutes while you play graba– with these people,” the Republican legislator said. “And all day it was like, ‘Oh, we’re going to get this done.'”
“Everyone was saying that the number of holdouts was in the single digits,” that House Republican stated. Surprisingly, the room included seventeen to twenty people. It was evident that there was a more significant issue than what they were first revealing.
In order to start formulating policies that fit into a reconciliation framework, the House and Senate traditionally need to approve comparable frameworks.
Also, Republicans are racing against the clock since the debt ceiling is set to be hit this summer. If the United States government doesn’t increase it to pay its bills, a national default might happen.
It is also anticipated that, except an extension, Trump’s tax cuts from 2017 would expire at the end of this year.