House Republicans on Wednesday released a blueprint that they intend to use to advance President Trump’s legislative agenda, breaking through an impasse that had stymied the conference for days.
The rollout of the budget resolution comes one day before the House Budget Committee is scheduled to debate and advance the resolution, which is the first step in the budget reconciliation process. The panel is set to consider the measure on Thursday at 10 a.m.
Republicans are looking to use the budget reconciliation process to pass Trump’s domestic policy priorities — including border funding, energy policy and an extension of the 2017 tax cuts — which would allow the party to circumvent Democratic opposition in the Senate.
The budget resolution acts as an outline for the reconciliation process, mandating minimums for spending cuts each committee will be tasked with making over the next 10 years, and a cap for how much the Ways and Means Committee will be allowed to increase the deficit through tax cuts over the coming decade.
The resolution includes a $4.5 trillion cap on the deficit impact of the Republicans’ plan to extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, a number that the Ways and Means Committee will use to craft the tax portion of the legislation.
It also sets a $100 billion cap on spending for the Armed Services Committee, a $90 billion cap on spending for the Homeland Security Committee and a $110 billion cap on spending for the Judiciary Committee.
And it includes a $4 billion increase of the debt limit.
On the spending cuts front, the measure lays out minimums for other panels: $230 billion for the Agriculture Committee, $330 billion for the Education and Workforce Committee, $880 billion for the Energy and Commerce Committee, $1 billion for the Financial Services Committee, $1 billion for the Natural Resources Committee, $50 billion for the Oversight and Government Reform Committee and $10 billion for the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Arriving at the Capitol on Wednesday, minutes after the text of the budget resolution dropped, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told reporters he was confident the resolution would advance through the Budget Committee on Thursday.
“I’ve been talking with the committee members and this will unlock the process and get us moving, so we’re excited about it,” Johnson said.
Asked if he believed the chamber could clear the resolution by the end of this month, which would keep him in line with his initial timeline, Johnson responded “I do, yeah, that’s the plan.”
Developing.
