House Republican leaders narrowly advanced a $95 billion budget reconciliation framework on Thursday, a key step in their legislative efforts, but faced continued opposition from fiscal conservatives concerned about the absence of spending cuts.
The House Budget Committee approved the framework along party lines. The blueprint allocates $73 billion for defense and intelligence, $12 billion for agricultural assistance, and $10 billion for grants to states aimed at implementing elements of the SAVE America Act.
Despite the committee's approval, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., anticipates challenges when the package reaches the House floor next week. Some conservatives have criticized the framework for not including spending offsets, which they argue could exacerbate deficits.
"I think that a no offset plan is dead on arrival because, frankly, three of us would kill it," Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, previously told reporters. The speaker can afford to lose only three Republican votes for the plan to pass, assuming full attendance.
Passing a budget blueprint is the initial phase required to utilize the budget reconciliation process, a legislative mechanism that typically requires near-unanimous support among Republicans due to their narrow majority in the House.
House Republicans are pursuing a strategy to bypass Democrats in the legislative process, which necessitates relying solely on GOP votes for passage. The plan could also encounter difficulties in the Senate, where some Republican senators have expressed skepticism regarding another reconciliation effort. The House blueprint notably omits spending instructions for the Senate, a move that might further delay the process.
Speaker Johnson has framed this legislative effort as a critical opportunity for Republicans to enact parts of the SAVE America Act before the November midterm elections. "It's our best shot at enacting our party's top priority legislation, the SAVE America Act," Johnson stated at a news conference. "It is important to the American people and it's important to the future."