The Republican Party was on a game-winning drive for the budget reconciliation package, and it looked like they could fumble the ball on the goal line. The bill is in serious trouble, given the House Republican majority’s slim majority where a few defections can lead to disaster. It was not a good Friday for the caucus (via WSJ):
House Republican spending hawks blocked the party’s giant tax-and-spending bill on Friday, delivering President Trump a setback over disagreements on Medicaid, clean-energy tax breaks and budget deficits.
The holdouts—Reps. Chip Roy of Texas, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma and Andrew Clyde of Georgia—stopped the Budget Committee from advancing the legislation, which leaders hope to pass by the full House next week. The panel failed to move the bill on a 16-21 vote, with those four Republicans and Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R., Pa.) joining all Democrats in opposition. Smucker, who backs the measure, said he voted no for procedural reasons, so he can call for a revote later.
Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R., Texas) said lawmakers were close to agreements on making changes to win the necessary votes. The committee scheduled its session to resume at 10 p.m. Sunday.
“This bill falls profoundly short,” Roy said, adding that discussions were continuing and possible through the weekend. “I am a no on this bill unless serious reforms are made.”
The delay throws at least a temporary wrench in House Republican leaders’ hopes to keep intraparty dissent at bay ahead of a self-imposed Memorial Day deadline. Trump, who has helped Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) muscle through close votes several times this year, had urged lawmakers to get in line.
“We don’t need ‘GRANDSTANDERS’ ” he posted on Truth Social ahead of the committee vote. “STOP TALKING AND GET IT DONE!”
Russell Vought, the director for the Office of Management and Budget under Trump, who is also slated to take Elon Musk’s role at the Department of Government Efficiency, took to social media to remind congressional Republicans the net positives of this bill, not least being that it averts a massive tax hike on working Americans since the Trump tax cuts would be made permanent with this legislation. Vought also subtweeted Chip Roy and company for grandstanding, as the provisions in the bill met their red-line tests. He added that the nation’s debt won’t be solved with one bill, so stop acting as if it could:
Critics have attacked the House's One Big Beautiful reconciliation bill on fiscal grounds, but I think they are profoundly wrong. It is truly historic. As a nation, we have had no spending cut victories of any consequence in nearly thirty years. In 1997, the Balanced Budget…
— Russ Vought (@russvought) May 16, 2025
Critics have attacked the House's One Big Beautiful reconciliation bill on fiscal grounds, but I think they are profoundly wrong. It is truly historic. As a nation, we have had no spending cut victories of any consequence in nearly thirty years. In 1997, the Balanced Budget Agreement included roughly $800 billion in mandatory savings adjusted for inflation.
The current House bill includes $1.6 trillion in savings. These are not gimmicks but real reforms that lower spending and improve the programs. The bill satisfies the very red-line test that House fiscal hawks laid out a few weeks ago that stated that the cost of any tax cut could be paid for with $2.5 trillion in assumed economic growth, but the rest had to be covered with savings from reform. This bill exceeds that test by nearly $100 billion.
So after nothing happening for decades, the House bill provides a historic $1.6 trillion in mandatory savings...with a three-seat majority. $36 trillion in debt is not solved overnight. It is solved by advancing and securing victories at a scale that over time, gives a fighting shot to addressing the problem. The House's One Big Beautiful Bill deserves passage for many reasons...tax cuts, border security funding, eliminating the Green New Deal, work requirements to end dependency...but it should not be lost on anyone, the degree to which it ends decades of fiscal futility and gets us winning again. It deserves the vote of every member of Congress.
If $1.6 trillion in savings isn’t enough for these people, they’re insane. Either submit to me, or I’ll be part of the chain of events that will be a body blow to the Trump White House and a tax increase on working Americans. That sounds mighty stupid. Also, Chip, we’d all blame you because you’re the one mucking up the work.
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