Hardliners on the panel threaten to reject the legislation, therefore a critical committee vote for the Republican package full of legislative priorities set for Friday could be punted to next week.
“I haven’t given up yet. But there are concerns about having to get more information, which would potentially delay this to next week, so we’ll see,” House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) said Thursday.
Following a tsunami of hardliners on the panel—Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas), Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), and Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), indicated they intended to vote against forwarding the GOP’s megabill in its current shape in a meeting set for Friday.
The defections would be sufficient to stop it from advancing, and several other hardline conservative panelists also expressed doubts or uncertainty about the measure.
Officially known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” the Budget Committee is the next stop for the legislation that pairs major Trump priorities like extension of tax cuts with reforms to Medicaid and food assistance programs, as well as other measures finalized in marathon mark-up in the Energy and Commerce, Agriculture, and Ways and Means committees this week.
Although House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) intended to pass the measure on the House floor next week, it must first clear the House Rules Committee and the Budget Committee.
Ahead of the expected floor vote next week, House Republicans are negotiating tweaks to the core legislation—mostly a proposed increase to the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap in exchange for altering other elements of the package like Medicaid reforms.
Legislators who met with Johnson on Thursday morning believe that the specifics of those reforms will be addressed over the weekend as they wait for budget estimates of other options.
Norman claimed not to obtain any responses when he asked questions about timing of work requirements and the degree of SALT caps in a Thursday afternoon House GOP conference meeting. He intends to vote against the budget committee measure as long as those issues remain unresolved.
“We shouldn’t have the vote,” Norman stated Friday, a message he shared with the rest of the House GOP conference during a Thursday afternoon briefing on the substance of the measure, according to a source.
On the Budget Committee, twenty-one Republicans and sixteen Democrats convene together where the eleven elements of the party’s “big, beautiful bill” will be combined into one bundle. Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas), however, is set to skip the vote since he is at home for the birth of his first kid, meaning opposition from Roy, Norman, and Clyde is more than enough to stop the proposal should all Democrats be present.
“I oppose moving the budget reconciliation bill forward from the Budget Committee as it is right now. We have a lot of problems to solve, including ones involving FMAP and 2A. In order to effectively fulfill President Trump’s objective for the American people, I am actively participating in negotiations to enhance this package and hope we will do so rapidly.
Uncertain on the crucial committee vote, Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind) told The Hill.
Rep. Josh Brecheen (R-Okla), Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), and Ben Cline (R-Va.) are among other hard-line House Freedom Caucus members seated on committees.
Cline and Representative Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) refused to state their vote inclination.
“I share @RepChipRoy’s worries since I am on the House Budget Committee. Furthermore, following a meeting with the Congressional Budget Office (CBO this morning, Brecheen noted on the social media platform X that it is evident we do not know the actual cost of this plan or whether it follows the Budget blueprint.
“Before we forward this legislation, we owe it to ourselves to know its actual cost. If we are to act in truth, we have to have real numbers—even if it takes spending some more time to get that truth.
Bluish-state Unless there is a larger SALT deduction cap—now worded as $30,000 for persons making $400,000 or more, a hike from the present law of a $10,000 cap—Republicans have indicated they will vote against the measure.
Johnson admitted, though, that there would be adjustments elsewhere to offset the financial impact of increasing that cap: “If you do more on SALT, you have to find more in savings. Thus, the Speaker stated Thursday, these are the dials—that is, the figurative dials I mentioned.
One of the top questions from fiscal hawks is changing the Medicaid work requirement start date for “able-bodied” single individuals, which are not due to kick in until 2029.
Later on Thursday, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said GOP leaders “absolutely” want to expedite the execution of Medicaid work requirements.
Reducing the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) for the Medicaid expansion established with ObamaCare and moving forward bumping down the timeline to roll back green energy tax credits, the hardliners have also suggested taking a tougher stance on the “provider tax,” allowing states to extract more federal Medicaid matching dollars rather than just freezing it.
Earlier in the day, Johnson had shown hope for the future of the measure.
“We are still on road to pass this bill next week, to have it on the floor,” Johnson remarked. “That’s always been the plan; I see nothing right now that would compromise that right now.”
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