WASHINGTON – House and Senate Republicans have voted to approve competing budgetary measures to pass some of President Donald Trump’s agenda. And the top GOP lawmakers claimed on Wednesday that they would not accept versions of the other rooms.
Under the inexplicable process used by Republicans, both the House and Senate must approve the same budget resolution before they can formally create a massive party line bill that can avoid Senate filibusters and separate Democrats from the process.
Senate Majority Leader John Tune, Rs.D. told GOP Senators at a closed late luncheon Wednesday that the House budget resolution approved Tuesday would not pass the Senate in its current form.
This is a common opinion among Senate Republicans, pouring cold water into the house’s blueprints for the day, including a $4.5 trillion tax cut, an increase in debt limit of $4 trillion, new spending on immigration enforcement and the military, and hundreds of millions of dollars in spending cuts to offset some of the Red Ink.
“The short answer is probably no. Senator John Kennedy of R-La. When asked if the Senator would not change the budget plan of the home, Senator John Kennedy said.
Trump said at the White House on Wednesday, Thune and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Tax Writing Committee leader Jason Smith, Chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee, R-Mo. and met with Senate Treasury Commttee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho. Johnson called it a “great meeting” and teased a potential announcement from Trump.
When asked how much the house could change and be angry about the budget, Johnson replied, “As few as possible.”
“Because, as demonstrated last night, we have a very small needle to thread here,” he told reporters after the White House meeting, pointing to a narrow Republican majority. “And there’s a certain point of balance between people with competing priorities. And we’re deviating too much from that, we have a problem. So the Senate understands that.”
Senate Republicans have a majority of 53-47, while House Republicans have an even narrower 218-215 margin. The House voted 217-215 to adopt a budget resolution after fighting for a GOP holdout a week after the Senate approved version 52-48.
Meanwhile, Thune said the White House meeting includes “good conversations” about what’s coming next, without providing details. The Senate budget blueprint addresses immigration, military funding and energy policy, leaving tax and debt restrictions at separate times.
“We didn’t have a chance since the House passed their bill to sit in the meeting. We’ll do that right away and talk about some of those decision points,” Thune said. He added that the House’s one-bill approach has “certain advantages,” but “but no final decision has been made.”
Democrats have tried to force the GOP to pay the political price of the House budget plan, focusing on the roughly $880 billion cut in spending that the Energy and Commerce Committee needs. Republicans say Medicaid cuts will be part of the way they reach that target.
“Last night, almost every House Republican signed his name to what would be the biggest Medicaid cut in American history,” Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y. said Wednesday. “Why did Republicans do that? So they managed to cut taxes on billionaires clubs. The Republican agenda is quickly taking shape. Under Donald Trump’s Republican, billionaires win and American families lose.”
Passing a larger budget bill is a monumental challenge, especially in the House of Representatives. GOP leaders were able to persuade a conservative holdout to help resolve budget resolutions with a promise of significant spending cuts, but central right Republicans in the swing district were made clear that they would strongly cut deeper cuts to popular programs like Medicaid.
Both Johnson and Tune acknowledged that the March 14 deadline may have to be addressed first to prevent government shutdowns. This occurs in a different process than budget resolution and requires democratic support.
Another challenge for Republicans in budget resolutions is how to permanently enact the tax cuts enacted in 2017 before the end of 2017. It traditionally requires them to pay, and the GOP has no realistic hope of doing it. So instead, parties are looking for ways to bypass that requirement by changing the budget “baseline.”
Prior to the meeting, Trump wrote on social media: “I hope the House and Senate can agree to make tax cuts permanent!”
