President Trump’s ambitious legislative proposal hit a major snag on Friday, failing to clear a crucial early hurdle in the House Budget Committee due to opposition from key Republican members focused on fiscal responsibility. These lawmakers argued that the bill did not adequately address the growing federal deficit.
Five Republican members—Chip Roy of Texas, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma, Andrew Clyde of Georgia, and Lloyd Smucker of Pennsylvania—voted against pushing the sweeping reconciliation package forward, leading to a 21-16 vote that halted its progress.
Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) confirmed after the vote that no further action would take place that day. “I do not anticipate us coming back today,” he said, noting the committee was likely to reconvene on Monday.
“This bill falls profoundly short. It does not do what we say it does with respect to deficits,” Roy said with frustration, citing figures from the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), which estimated that the legislation, as written, would result in an additional $3.3 trillion in red ink over the next ten years.
If the tax reductions from Trump’s 2017 plan—along with provisions exempting tip income, overtime, and Social Security from IRS payment calculations—are extended permanently, the CRFB projected that the deficit would swell by $5.2 trillion through 2034.
“This bill has backloaded savings and has front-loaded spending,” Roy continued. “We are writing checks we cannot cash, and our children are gonna pay the price. So I’m a ‘no’ on this bill unless serious reforms are made: today, tomorrow, Sunday.”
Norman expressed similar concerns. While calling the proposed $3.8 trillion in tax relief “great,” he said he was firmly opposed to the bill unless provisions limiting Medicaid for “able-bodied” recipients and non-citizens receiving emergency services were eliminated.
According to legislative language released Monday by the House Ways and Means Committee, those controversial Medicaid adjustments wouldn’t begin until 2029—further frustrating critics like Roy and Norman.
Both lawmakers left the hearing abruptly mid-morning Friday after Arrington conceded, “a whole lot of work is still left undone,” reinforcing doubts about the measure’s viability.
Had only three Republicans broken ranks, the bill would have failed to move forward. If it had cleared the committee, it could have proceeded through both chambers of Congress via the reconciliation process, which requires only a simple majority.
“Republicans MUST UNITE behind, ‘THE ONE, BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL!’” Trump declared on Truth Social while returning to Washington from the Middle East. “Not only does it cut Taxes for ALL Americans, but it will kick millions of Illegal Aliens off of Medicaid to PROTECT it for those who are the ones in real need.”
“The Country will suffer greatly without this Legislation, with their Taxes going up 65%. It will be blamed on the Democrats, but that doesn’t help our Voters. We don’t need ‘GRANDSTANDERS’ in the Republican Party. STOP TALKING, AND GET IT DONE! It is time to fix the MESS that Biden and the Democrats gave us. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
The House Budget Committee included data from the Congressional Budget Office indicating that, under the Biden administration, taxpayers have covered more than $16 billion in emergency Medicaid services for illegal immigrants.
Earlier this week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee unveiled a proposal outlining $900 billion in savings, targeting areas like Medicaid by instituting work requirements for beneficiaries.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) shared a hopeful outlook Thursday after discussions with conservative Republicans and lawmakers from New York, who want to see a higher state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap than the $30,000 currently proposed.
“If you do more on SALT, you have to find more in savings. … We are trying to do this in a deficit-neutral way,” he said. “We’re very very close. … I’m committed to work throughout the weekend on it, others are as well. … We are still on path to pass this bill next week.”
{Matzav.com}