House Republicans narrowly passed a long-awaited budget framework on Thursday, finally paving the way for them to begin crafting President Trump’s ambitious legislative proposal, often referred to as his “big, beautiful” agenda.
The budget plan was approved in a tight 216–214 vote, with Republican Representatives Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Victoria Spartz of Indiana breaking ranks and voting against the resolution.
Although this represents a crucial procedural step forward, internal party divisions over federal spending levels continue to pose major challenges for advancing Trump’s signature policies.
“We want to make sure we’re delivering on our shared goals in the budget resolution process,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said to reporters before the vote. “Our two chambers are directly aligned also on a very important principle: And that is the principle of fiscal responsibility.”
“We’re going to protect the essential programs for everybody that’s eligible to receive those.”
In order to begin the reconciliation process—which allows for legislation to pass the Senate with a simple majority and sidestep a Democratic filibuster—both chambers of Congress had to approve the same budget resolution.
With Republicans holding 53 seats in the Senate, the reconciliation path is crucial to enacting Trump’s legislative priorities on tax reform, energy expansion, military funding, and securing the border.
The Senate had already signed off on the compromise resolution the week before.
For weeks, House and Senate Republicans had been locked in a standoff over how aggressively to slash government spending in the budget blueprint that would support Trump’s key initiatives.
Unable to reach a unified stance quickly, the Senate moved ahead with its own version last week, which included dual sets of reconciliation instructions: one aligned with the House’s earlier February plan calling for at least $1.5 trillion in reductions, and another far less aggressive option that proposed just $4 billion in cuts tailored specifically for the Senate.
{Matzav.com}