Government
House Adopts Budget Framework With Senate's Amendments
House lawmakers passed the motion by a 216-214 vote April 10 despite opposition from two Republicans.
Photo courtesy U.S. House of Representatives
The House of Representatives passed a budget framework adopting Senate amendments April 10, allowing Republican lawmakers to move forward with the budget reconciliation process in line with President Donald Trump’s priorities.
“That was a big step, because that will allow us now to move forward, to have our committees drafting the ‘one big, beautiful bill,’” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told reporters after the vote.
The motion passed by a 216-214 vote. No Democrats voted in favor. The vote was originally scheduled for April 9, but some hard-line Republicans refused to support the bill without additional spending cuts. Most of the holdouts ended up voting in favor, other than Rep. Thomas Massie (Ky.) and Rep. Victoria Spartz (Ind.), after Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) agreed to cut $1.5 trillion in spending.
“I appreciate the efforts of my colleagues, but the instructions we voted on today are still setting us up for the largest deficit increase in the history of our republic, [and] opening up a ‘Pandora’s box’ by changing accounting rules to hide it,” Spartz wrote on social media.
The framework would allow for an additional $5.8 trillion in deficits through 2034, but requires just $4 billion in gross deficit reduction to offset it, according to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB).
“This budget sets the stage for the largest deficit increase in history,” said Maya MacGuineas, president of CRFB, in a statement.
The measure also extends 2017 tax cuts that were due to expire, which Johnson said would have otherwise effectively been the largest tax hike in history.
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As lawmakers now look to draft their budget, Johnson said Senate and House Republicans will collaborate. He also outlined their priorities: border security, reducing regulations, military readiness, energy and lowering the costs of living.
Democrats were critical of anticipated cuts in the budget, such as to Medicaid and other health and social programs. Renewable energy advocates have also raised concerns about the possible loss of project incentives from 2022's Inflation Reduction Act.
“The budget resolution that passed the House today will set in motion some of the most extreme cuts to healthcare, nutritional assistance and the things that matter to everyday Americans in our nation’s nearly 250-year history,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told reporters. “It’s a disgrace.”
