The House Budget Committee is moving forward with a Friday meeting to package the pieces of President Trump’s agenda into the promised “one big, beautiful bill,” despite fiscal hawks threatening to vote against it over insufficient spending cuts.
“We need to have answers before it hits the floor,” said Rep. Ralph Norman, South Carolina Republican. Otherwise, he would vote against the package in the Budget Committee.
Mr. Norman and several members of the House Freedom Caucus said they want to speed up the implementation of work requirements for Medicaid and the phase out of clean energy tax credits, both of which the bill currently delays until 2029.
Fellow Freedom Caucus member Chip Roy, Texas Republican, is also planning to vote against the bill in the Budget Committee for similar reasons. He also wants Republicans to make further cuts to Medicaid, specifically reducing federal funding for states that opted into the Obamacare expansion of the program to include able-bodied adults.
Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington, Texas Republican, told reporters Thursday afternoon that “potentially enough” Republicans opposed the plan to force the markup to be delayed.
But he issued a statement a few hours later suggesting the committee vote would proceed as scheduled.
“I’m confident we will have the votes in the Budget Committee tomorrow,” he said. “The Republican conference is working in good faith through a few scoring and policy clarifications.”
The Budget Committee cannot afford to lose more than one GOP vote since Rep. Brandon Gill of Texas is not in Washington because his wife recently had a baby.
Rep. Andrew S. Clyde, Georgia Republican, said he is a “no.” Rep. Josh Brecheen, Oklahoma Republican, wouldn’t state his position.
However, Mr. Brecheen said earlier that Republicans may need to delay further consideration of the measure until they have full cost estimates from the Congressional Budget Office.
“We have a duty to know the true cost of this legislation before advancing it,” he said on X. “If we are to operate in truth, we must have true numbers — even if that means taking some more time to obtain that truth.”
Republican leaders spent Thursday in various meetings working with the conference’s different factions that have issues with the legislation.
House Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise remained confident the House would pass the massive bill next week, despite the unresolved issues.
“We are still on path to pass this bill next week,” said Mr. Johnson, Louisiana Republican. “That’s always been the plan, and I don’t see anything that would impede that right now.”
Mr. Scalise said Republicans will likely move up the implementation date for the Medicaid work requirements to appease conservatives, but the final details were still being worked out.
“It’s never finished until the bill is actually on the floor and the vote is called,” said the Louisiana Republican.
One of the biggest hang-ups is members of the so-called SALT Caucus who want a higher cap on the amount of state and local taxes that can be deducted from federal taxes.
The Ways and Means Committee has proposed tripling the current $10,000 SALT cap to $30,000 for most taxpayers, with the maximum amount phasing down for anyone earning above $400,000 a year.
Republicans from California, New Jersey and New York said that’s not enough to provide meaningful relief for their constituents. Conservatives counter that $30,000 is a more than generous subsidy for high-tax blue states.
Mr. Johnson said any further increase to the SALT cap would require Republicans to find more savings to offset its cost.
“I am convinced that we’ll be able to adjust the dial, so to speak, so that we can come to an agreement that will meet the criteria that everybody has, and that we can move this thing forward,” he said.
The speaker pledged to work through the weekend on the sticking points.
Another issue is the phaseout of clean energy tax credits. Many of the credits were Democratic proposals enacted during President Biden’s term through the Inflation Reduction Act, but have helped fund energy projects in Republican districts across the country.
Rep. Jen Kiggans of Virginia and 13 other moderate Republicans have requested changes to the clean energy credit provisions.
Asked about potential changes to the energy tax credits, Mr. Johnson demurred.
“The bill is almost in final form,” he said. “There are a lot of things on the table, a lot of ideas, a lot of possibilities that we have, and we will work through those things together deliberately, as we always do.”
