House Republicans returned to Washington after a two-week recess ready to begin piecing together the “big, beautiful bill” that will carry the bulk of President Trump’s legislative agenda.
Six of the 11 House committees that are tasked with drafting the bill will meet this week to consider their portions of the job. The other committees are set to follow in the coming weeks.
Those committee markups are a key step in the process for compiling the bill, which will ultimately be pieced together by the House Budget Committee and sent to the floor as one giant package.
Republicans are using the budget reconciliation process to advance the legislation because it is exempt from a Senate filibuster and thus requires no cooperation from Democrats if the GOP remains united.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, had set an ambitious goal of getting the legislation to the president’s desk by Memorial Day.
Even passing it through the House in the next month will be a heavy lift given internal GOP disagreements on the details of spending and tax cuts that will be part of the package.
It would take only four Republican no votes in either chamber to sink the bill.
Mr. Johnson did not repeat his Memorial Day deadline in brief comments to reporters on Monday but said the next few weeks will be critical.
“Now is game time. The big developments will be coming together,” he said, predicting the legislation will be “a turbo boost for the economy.”
The House committee markups begin Tuesday with three panels meeting simultaneously: Armed Services, Homeland Security and Education & Workforce.
The Armed Services Committee portion of the legislation features $150 billion in funding for defense priorities, including $34 billion for shipbuilding and other maritime infrastructure, $25 billion for a “Golden Dome” missile defense system and $21 billion to restock America’s munitions arsenal.
“President Trump has a visionary strategy of peace through strength, and this investment is how we begin to execute it,” said Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers, Alabama Republican.
The Homeland Security Committee piece includes $46.5 billion to complete Mr. Trump’s border wall and erect other barriers along the southern border with Mexico, along with technological enhancements to support real-time monitoring and response.
The panel also provides a funding boost for the Customs and Border Patrol agency, including $5 billion to improve facilities, $4.1 billion to hire more than 8,000 new employees and $2 billion for retention and signing bonuses.
The Education & Workforce Committee piece includes several offsets for the new spending and the tax cuts to come. In total, the panel found $330 billion in savings from overhauling student loan programs and other reforms.
“This plan brings accountability and holds schools financially responsible for loading students up with debt,” Education & Workforce Chairman Tim Walberg, Michigan Republican, said. “The bill also includes other reforms that will lower costs for students and families while ensuring the fiscal sustainability of targeted programs like the Pell Grant.”
The pieces of the bill that House committees have released so far are the least controversial.
The panels that have jurisdiction over taxes and safety net programs like Medicaid and food stamps, which Republicans are eying for more significant savings, are still negotiating details of their portions to be released in the coming weeks.
Democrats are stepping up their protests of potential cuts to safety net programs and tax cuts for the rich.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York Democrat, and Sen. Cory Booker, New Jersey, held a 12-hour sit-in on the Capitol steps Sunday and were joined by fellow lawmakers and advocates who rely on Medicaid and other safety net programs that the GOP budget reconciliation bill may cut.
“As Democrats, we’re going to continue to stand on the side of the American people, and we will not rest until we bury this reckless Republican budget in the ground,” Mr. Jeffries said.
Mr. Booker said continued efforts to speak out will hopefully encourage enough Republicans to “do the right thing and vote no.”
On Wednesday, four additional committees — Judiciary, Financial Services, Oversight and Government Reform and Transportation & Infrastructure — will hold markups on their portions of the reconciliation legislation.
The Judiciary Committee proposes several new immigration fees and provides money for enforcement, including $45 billion to expand detention capacity, $14.4 billion for transportation and removal operations, $8 billion to hire Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and personnel and $1.25 billion to hire immigration judges and support staff.
The Oversight and Government Reform piece includes more than $50 billion in offsets from revenue increases and spending cuts. Nearly $31 billion in revenue comes from raising the federal civilian employees’ retirement contribution rate to 4.4% of their salary. Another $10 billion in savings comes from eliminating an additional retirement annuity payment for federal workers who retire before age 62, except for those in roles subject to mandatory early separation.
The Financial Services panel’s portion would rescind any unspent Inflation Reduction Act funds for green retrofits to affordable housing, transfer the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board to the Securities and Exchange Commission and cap funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The Transportation & Infrastructure Committee will release the text of its piece on Tuesday.
