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Washington Post
17-07-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
House set to slash $9 billion even as Republican infighting reemerges
President Donald Trump has played a critical role in helping House Republicans notch consecutive wins, including a heavy lift to ensure a big chunk of his legislative agenda became law. But divisions between far-right lawmakers, many of whom are members of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, and the rest of the House GOP conference are reemerging in ways that even Trump has found troubling to stop. The hard-line flank's rebellion this week — almost siding with all Democrats to force the Trump administration to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein and pausing House business two days in a row over cryptocurrency bills — could overshadow recent accomplishments. And although it is expected to ultimately pass, House Republicans have not yet sewn up the votes for the Trump administration's latest attempts to slash $9 billion in federal funds. The vote is expected late Thursday. 'They're getting tired of winning,' Rep. Carlos A. Gimenez (R-Florida) joked, echoing many rank-and-file members' frustrations with the hard-liners. Other legislative business in the House was delayed this week — including passing a key bill to fund the Defense Department — due to Freedom Caucus concerns, previewing how tricky passing bills through both chambers will be once Congress returns from its August recess. Rep. Ralph Norman (R-South Carolina), a member of the Freedom Caucus, said he is 'cautiously optimistic' that Republicans will pass the partisan rescissions bill Thursday evening after the Senate restored $400 million for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, to ensure it passed the chamber. The bill would slash $1.1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds PBS and NPR. The group would have had grave concerns if the package had been sent back to the House with less than $9 billion in spending cuts, Norman added. 'It should have been the FULL $9.4B, but cutting ANY spending at this point is a good first step,' Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas) posted on social media. Republicans have described the budget bill as a welcome start toward slashing spending, even though it achieves only a small fraction of the $1 trillion in annual savings that Elon Musk promised to find during his time overseeing the U.S. DOGE service. The cuts would be the first passed at a president's request since the 1990s. A handful of more pragmatic House Republicans — Reps. Mark Amodei (Nevada), Brian Fitzpatrick (Pennsylvania), Michael R. Turner (Ohio) and Nicole Malliotakis (New York) — are the ones to watch on the rescissions package after they initially opposed it last month. The bill passed only because of several Democratic absences. If every lawmaker is present and voting Thursday, it will force House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) to flip at least one of the four previous Republican no votes. The House must pass rescissions by Friday under the law that Republicans are using to undo spending that Congress previously approved. The internal GOP fighting delayed action on the appropriations process; Congress must fund the government by the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. House hard-liners remain skeptical that the Senate will adopt a series of big reductions in federal spending, particularly after they stalled legislation on cryptocurrency this week because of worry that they had no influence on Senate-passed legislation. Individual spending bills require 60 votes to pass the Senate — not the simple majority needed for the rescissions package and Trump's recent tax-and-immigration legislation — meaning Democrats will be crucial to funding the government. White House Office of Budget and Management Director Russell Vought, who has long advised the Freedom Caucus, advocated Thursday for a 'less bipartisan' government funding process and taking aim at the $37 trillion debt by dramatically slashing government through further rescissions bills. (Trump's legislative agenda is estimated to add $4 trillion to the deficit, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office). That approach has rankled lawmakers who still think Congress should lead on what the government spends instead of the executive branch. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma) debuted a new plaque during a committee hearing Thursday that quotes Article I of the Constitution: 'No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.' Jeff Stein contributed to this report.
Bloomberg
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
How Budget Reconciliation Works in Congress
When a political party has gained control over the House, Senate, and White House, but only holds a slim majority, they often turn to a process called budget reconciliation. That process allows the majority to turn their legislative agenda into law without being blocked with a Senate filibuster by the minority party. (Produced by Paul Detrick; Executive Producer Josh Block) (Source: Bloomberg)
