GOP scrambles to win over moderates on budget resolution

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Hill

02/24/25 6:00 AM ET


Senate passage of a budget resolution designed to execute large parts of President Trump’s policy agenda throws the ball back to the House, where GOP leaders are hoping to move swiftly on legislation encompassing an even broader swath of Trump’s first-year wishlist. 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.

But Trump’s surprise endorsement of the House package — which came amid the Senate process and blindsided GOP leaders — has heightened the stakes for Johnson and other top Republicans, who are now under even greater pressure to unite their divided conference behind the massive spending plan in order to secure an early win for the president, who’s facing mounting criticism for rising inflation and efforts to gut the federal bureaucracy.

The GOP budget bill is poised to hit the House floor this week, but passage is no slam dunk. 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.

Those cuts are a crucial piece of the GOP’s budget plan, designed to help offset the multitrillion-dollar cost of extending Trump’s 2017 tax cuts. But the centrist GOP holdouts have reservations that the cuts would hurt their most vulnerable constituents — particularly those on Medicaid, which provides coverage to more than 70 million people, most of them poor and roughly half of them children.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5158421-trump-budget-standoff-house-republicans/

[bronxiteforever]

1. Kick. The most important sentence

“Those cuts are a crucial piece of the GOP’s budget plan, designed to help offset the multitrillion-dollar cost of extending Trump’s 2017 tax cuts.”

They will not offset in any meaningful way the deficit bomb these cuts will produce. The billionaire tax cuts will continue to cause havoc with our bond rating. The middle class will be no better off but the wealth gap will continue its dangerous spread.

This is a continuation of a giant fraud committed by the con man in chief who will most certainly destroy this country like his casinos. The only solution we have is a united Democratic Party.

[pfitz59]

2. The Town Hall pushback

and phones blowing up has got to give even the most hard-core pukes pause. Their main goal in office is to get re-elected. Initial news suggests the GOP might lose bigly in the mid-terms.

[Jazz Jon]

3. Please Explain

The article says a GOP budget resolution passed the Senate? What is the difference between a budget and a budget resolution? This thing passed in the Senate and not one Democratic Senator would filibuster it? Please explain.

[BumRushDaShow]

4. There is special Budget process called "reconciliation" - this is mainly aimed at the Senate

that allows Congress to produce a budget "outline" that will later have funding bills attached to it and can be set up for up to 10 years. The result MUST BE "budget neutral" meaning whatever funding that might he applied, doesn't add (significantly) to the deficit (meaning somewhere else there will be cuts, or at least slowing or halting any inflation increases in previously budgeted spending).

There are 3 types of "reconciliation" - "spending", "revenue" (taxes), "debt" (raising debt ceiling). There can only be one of each type enacted in a single fiscal year but any 1 or combo of 2, or all 3 types done together, can be enacted during that fiscal year.

The "special" provision about it is that at least in the Senate, it doesn't require use of the cloture (filibuster) Rule, where 60 votes would normally be needed to begin final debate on legislation. Debate can begin on final passage with a simple majority.

HOWEVER the other caveat with "reconciliation" is that there can be no "policy riders" on it, meaning the GOP can't suddenly add an amendment that "bans abortion" or whatever. That is known as the "Byrd Rule".

More on this process - https://www.cbpp.org/research/introduction-to-budget-reconciliation

[Jazz Jon]

5. Reconciliation

Thank you. So the horror show bill did indeed pass the Senate... using the reconciliation rule. The people of this country had better rise up. This won't be stopped in the house. Any resistance there will be short lived will be tentative and short lived.

[BumRushDaShow]

6. Well "reconciliation" is how both of Biden's bills "Infrastructure" and "Inflation Reduction (Climate)" got passed

The difference this go-around is that in the House, there is only a tiny margin that the GOP has due to having a number of their seats pulled for appointments (and late special elections). Plus the House has its own bill and the MAGats there may reject the Senate's 2-bill process.

And with the House bill, because they are more and more moving to go for draconian cuts in Medicaid, they may lose the "moderate" / "swing" District GOPers (those in Districts that voted for Harris).

I had heard clips from a press conference yesterday afternoon from one of the Philly Congress members and he emphasized the fact that Democrats only need to convince 2 GOPers to switch and Johnson's mess will fail. I.e., the current spread is 218 (R) - 215 (D) (with 2 GOP vacancies) and if 2 (R)s vote against the bill, then (assuming all (D)s vote "no" ), the tally would be 217 (nay) - 216 (yea).

[Jazz Jon]

7. Not that encouraging

If you depend on The ACA (medicaid) like me, I wouldnt count on house Republicans saving us. They will object a little at first and then vote in bloc with the GOP... town hall pusback or not.

I AM counting on economic shutdown protests and then scaled up protests to help, however. It will take a while and a lot of scaling up of the resistance before we see effects.

[BumRushDaShow]

8. Well regarding the House's bill

This is the latest - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143404128