Behind Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), House Republicans were already advancing Trump’s “one big beautiful bill” strategy even before Senate GOP leaders chose to charge ahead with their competing — and more narrow — budget blueprint, which passed through the upper chamber in the early hours of Friday morning.
House Republicans are clinging to a historically tiny majority, which leaves virtually no room for GOP defections as long as Democrats are united in opposition, as expected. And already, a handful of moderate Republicans are airing concerns about steep cuts to safety net programs like food stamps and Medicaid that could tank the bill.
At least three moderate Republicans — Reps. David Valadao (Calif.), Nicole Malliotakis (N.Y.) and Don Bacon (Neb.) — told The Hill on Wednesday that they’re ready to vote against the budget bill this week unless GOP leaders can provide convincing evidence beforehand that the proposed Medicaid cuts won’t diminish direct benefits to people in their districts.
In that instance, GOP leaders could return to the drawing board in an attempt to win over the moderates by reducing the size and scope of the spending cuts. But that move would likely erode support from conservative budget hawks hoping to shrink the government and rein in deficits.
Alternatively, House leaders could shift to the Senate’s budget strategy, which splits Trump’s agenda between two bills. The first of those, featuring more spending for the military, domestic energy production and border security, is the one that passed through the upper chamber on Friday.
But that approach punted on the toughest parts of the budget debate, including the details over how to pay for those spending increases; which tax cuts should be extended or created; and what programs will be cut to help offset the resulting loss of revenues so deficits don’t explode.
Posted by John3262005
7 Comments
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The vibe I get here is that these GOP “moderates” are about to get a few weeks of negative press on right wing media. They will probably cave. Their resistance is temporary.
Scrambling? I’m concerned
The lesson from the first trump administration was to appeal to the extremes of the party since the moderates always cave
Should the moderates be convinced, budget reconciliation is still going to be hard, especially if both chambers disagree on how much to cut these programs.
I mean, if they push moderates to accept draconian cuts they’re just going to lose in the midterms. Plus, given that they’re at a one seat majority can’t anyone with any factional interest just seize control of the entire process until they acquiesce to that demand?
I hope they go forward with cutting Medicaid and social security not only because they’re too expensive but also because it will improve dems chances in 2026