President Donald Trump came out in support of the House GOP budget proposal Wednesday morning, throwing a wrench into Senate Republicans’ plan to pass a slimmer budget quickly to give the president early wins on border security and defense spending in his second term.
Senate and House Republicans have been pursuing competing budget plans with the Senate set to vote later this week on its own budget resolution that would authorize $340 billion in new border security and defense spending and change federal energy policy to allow for new oil and gas lease sales.
Trump had largely stayed out of the debate over process until Wednesday as both chambers moved full steam ahead with competing budget proposals. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune both signaled that the other leader’s proposal was dead-on-arrival in their respective chambers.
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“The House and Senate are doing a SPECTACULAR job of working together as one unified, and unbeatable, TEAM, however, unlike the Lindsey Graham version of the very important Legislation currently being discussed, the House Resolution implements my FULL America First Agenda, EVERYTHING, not just parts of it,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Wednesday morning. “We need both Chambers to pass the House Budget to “kickstart” the Reconciliation process, and move all of our priorities to the concept of, “ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL.” It will, without question, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
The Senate voted largely along party lines Tuesday to advance its own budget resolution that now appears to be a nonstarter given Trump’s support for the House version. The Senate GOP’s budget bill notably omitted an extension of the 2017 Trump tax cuts and other tax policies the president floated during the campaign, including no taxes on tips, social security or overtime pay. Senate Republicans’ planned to consider these tax priorities in a second budget reconciliation package later in the year.
House GOP leadership conversely favors a one-bill approach that combines all of Trump’s tax and spending priorities into “one, big beautiful bill.”
The House Budget Committee advanced a budget resolution on Feb. 13 that would set a framework for a single bill that combines the president’s tax and spending priorities. The budget resolution sets a $4.5 trillion ceiling in deficit increases and a $1.5 trillion floor in spending cuts over a ten-year window. The resolution would also allow for a $4 trillion hike in the statutory debt limit.
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Several House Republicans signaled their opposition to the budget resolution over concerns that the reconciliation bill it would trigger could lead to significant cuts to Medicaid. Trump said on Fox News’ “Hannity” Tuesday that he would not support cuts to entitlements, including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid except in cases of waste, fraud and abuse.
Richard Stern, Heritage Foundation director for the Center for the Federal Budget, told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the House reconciliation bill, set up by the initial budget resolution, will likely add to the deficit.
According to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Budget, the House budget resolution could increase the deficit by up to $3.3 trillion over ten years.
Thune questioned Tuesday whether the House budget resolution allowed enough room to accommodate the president’s sweeping tax priorities within the $4.5 trillion deficit ceiling window.
According to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Budget, these tax priorities could increase the deficit between $5 trillion and $11 trillion over ten years if not offset with spending cuts or new sources of tax revenue.
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Senate Republicans, led by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, argued their two-step budget reconciliation package was the right approach. They cited Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s request that the Senate quickly approve $175 billion in new border security funding.
“OMB Director Vought and Border Czar Homan told Senate Republicans that ICE is running out of money. We’ve got to keep our foot on the gas,” Graham wrote on X Tuesday. “Build the wall, deport illegal aliens, and create additional detention space so we don’t have to release illegal immigrants into the community. And God knows the military needs more money in these dangerous times.”
As of this writing, Senate GOP leadership have said that the upper chamber will continue to advance their own budget bill despite Trump favoring the House version.
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First published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.