The House GOP narrowly avoided a setback on Thursday as they work to pass a major budget bill, but fiscal hawks are still threatening to derail the effort. The first test came at a critical markup by the House Budget Committee, where the panel approved a $95 billion budget reconciliation framework along party lines.
However, House Speaker Mike Johnson is likely to face trouble on the House floor next week as some conservatives sharply criticize the package for including no spending-cut instructions. Rep. Chip Roy, a member of the budget panel, did not vote, and the budget blueprint now heads to the House Rules Committee, where GOP leaders will attempt to win a key vote.
The framework would provide $73 billion for defense and intelligence, allocate $12 billion in assistance to farmers, and establish a $10 billion funding pot to support states implementing elements of the SAVE America Act. House fiscal hawks had previously warned that the bill was a non-starter due to the lack of spending offsets, with Rep. Warren Davidson stating that a no-offset plan was "dead on arrival."
Passing a budget blueprint is the first step in the complex budget reconciliation process, which requires near-unanimity among Republicans. House Speaker Mike Johnson can afford to lose just three GOP defections, assuming all members are present and voting. The plan also faces an uphill battle in the Senate, where some Republicans remain skeptical of another reconciliation effort.
The House Republicans' blueprint notably contains no spending instructions for the upper chamber, an omission that could further delay the process. If the budget blueprint advances out of the House and Senate, lawmakers will only then start writing the actual bill. The plan could also face trouble in the Senate, where some Republicans remain skeptical of another reconciliation effort.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has cast the effort as the best opportunity for Republicans to pass pieces of the stalled SAVE America Act before the November midterm elections. "It's our best shot at enacting our party's top priority legislation, the SAVE America Act," Johnson said. "It is important to the American people and it's important to the future."
Despite the challenges ahead, some Republicans remain optimistic about the plan's prospects. "Everybody is betting against us being able to get it done," Rep. Beth Van Duyne said. "I am more and more optimistic each day that passes." With narrow margins and a complex process, House Republicans will need to work together to advance their budget blueprint and unlock the next stage of the reconciliation process.
