A resolution that will eventually become a large multi-trillion-dollar measure that includes President Donald Trump’s goals on taxes, energy, defense, and the border has been adopted by the House of Representatives.
The resolution was passed by a vote of 217 to 215—a significant win for House GOP leaders.
Along with one Republican rebel, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who was worried about the measure’s impact on the national deficit, all Democrats voted against it.
The pertinent House committees must now convene and develop their own recommendations, which will subsequently be included back into the framework and worked out in a compromise agreement with the Senate.
Trump is accused by the Black Caucus Chair of “purging” “minority” federal employees.
In an effort to persuade conservative fiscal hawks to back the package, Republican leaders in the House chamber on Monday night postponed officially terminating a vote for about forty-five minutes.
As Republicans gathered in several groupings, impatient Democrats yelled for the vote to be closed.
During a phone conversation with one of the holdouts, Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., President Donald Trump became involved, according to two witnesses on the House floor who spoke to Fox News Digital.
At other times on the House floor, it was unclear whether Reps. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, and Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., were talking to Trump on the phone.
At one point, House GOP leaders abruptly canceled the scheduled vote, perhaps losing faith in their ability to garner enough support.
However, a few moments later, Fox News Digital was informed that the vote would take place as legislators from both parties hurried back to the House floor.
In the meantime, three House Democrats made a remarkable comeback for the Tuesday night vote after missing the morning session.
About a month after giving birth, Rep. Brittany Pettersen, D-Colo., brought her infant back to the House floor to protest the bill. And using a walker, Rep. Kevin Mullin, R-Calif., who was just admitted to the hospital due to an infection, made an appearance in the chamber.
Republicans in the House and Senate want to utilize their majorities to further Trump’s agenda through the process of budget reconciliation.
This Senate tactic, which reduces the two-thirds need for approval to a simple majority, is employed when one party controls both the White House and both chambers of Congress because it enables that party to enact its policy objectives by even the narrowest margins.
Republicans are also facing narrow margins; given the present numbers, if all liberals are voting, the House GOP can only afford one defection to pass anything without Democratic votes.
Republicans are only allowed to lose two senators during the reconciliation process.
The House resolution sought at least $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion in budget cuts elsewhere while increasing spending by about $300 billion for defense, the judiciary, and border security.
The provisions of President Donald Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which expire at the end of this year, will also be extended with $4.5 trillion, according to the House plan as written.
Along with forcing Congress to make $2 trillion in cutbacks, an amendment proposed by House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, and conservative members of his panel would also prevent the $4.5 trillion for Trump’s tax cuts from being reduced by the difference.
Additionally, the resolution increased the debt ceiling by $4 trillion, or almost two years, in accordance with Trump’s order to take action.
In 2023, a bipartisan agreement was reached that delayed the debt ceiling until January 2025. According to current estimates, if Congress does nothing, the United States may run out of money to pay its bills by spring.
The resolution’s odds were touch and go for much of the week so far, since House lawmakers returned from a week-long recess period Monday.
More guarantees from House GOP leadership that Republicans would pursue significant spending cuts to balance the cost of Trump’s agenda items had been sought by several fiscal conservatives.
