Congress
Capitol agenda: Budget resolutions moving, DOGE hearing
Conservatives are squeezing Mike Johnson as he scrambles to rescue his one-bill plan to pass Donald Trump’s border, energy and tax priorities. The speaker is about to make another big move to get back on track.
Where things stand: Majority Whip Steve Scalise says House GOP leaders plan to release text for their budget blueprint this morning, just as Senate Republicans are moving ahead with their own budget markup at 10 a.m. House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington is under immense pressure to get the House plan through his committee on Thursday. The Texan is “at risk of being outmaneuvered by fellow chairs, senior leaders and the Senate.”
Johnson’s problem on the right: Conservatives want deeper spending cuts than leaders want to promise and a lower cap on how much tax cuts can raise the deficit. Without a solution, it’s making it harder for Johnson to cram all of the GOP’s priorities into a single bill.
Just as House GOP leaders started to float a plan Tuesday, House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris threatened to roll out his own tax proposal in the coming days. Hard-liners have been back-channeling with Senate Budget Chair Lindsey Graham for weeks, as he pursues a two-track plan they favor. And some House Budget Committee conservatives are remaining noncommittal and hinting they want to see deeper spending cuts in the final bill.
“Those of us who are fully in favor of tax cuts, we also want to see the cut to the inflation tax that is represented by runaway spending in this town,” said Rep. Chip Roy, a member of the Budget panel and the Freedom Caucus. However, he noted talks are “in a better place.”
Asked if he supports Johnson’s current blueprint, Rep. Ralph Norman, another dual member, said with a smile: “I’m on board with what the Freedom Caucus proposed.” He added he hopes GOP leaders will stick with a $2 trillion baseline for cuts.
There’s still some hope among House GOP leaders that Trump might get rebellious members in line. Roy declined to say whether he has talked to the president recently.
The Senate isn’t waiting: Republicans in the chamber hope to approve their budget resolution on the border and energy priorities in committee today. They now believe that they have Trump’s blessing to pursue their two-bill strategy, after his border czar Tom Homan and OMB Director Russ Vought asked GOP senators in a closed-door lunch Tuesday to send them $175 billion for border security, and fast.
Ahead of the Senate Budget markup, members have filed more than 150 amendments.
What else we’re watching:
- Democrats fight DOGE: As Democrats decide how to fight back against Trump’s sweeping actions against the federal government, GOP leaders indicate they want to codify Department of Government Efficiency cuts through their party-line bill. The DOGE subcommittee of Oversight also has its first hearing today.
- Nomination news: The Senate will vote to confirm Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence today at 11 a.m. They will also vote to end debate on Robert F. Kennedy as HHS secretary, teeing him up for a vote on Thursday, if Democrats don’t agree to speed things along.
Meredith Lee Hill and Rachael Bade contributed to this report.
Senate Budget Committee Republicans will meet Tuesday morning to talk about advancing a fiscal blueprint for a new party-line spending bill.
Chair Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) declined to say , in an interview Monday if he plans to introduce a resolution this week, noting that he was “working with leadership” and that the “first priority” is to pass a stopgap spending bill. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a panel member, said he didn’t expect the Senate to take up a budget resolution this week because “I don’t think my leadership wants to do it.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune hasn’t ruled out taking up a budget resolution but has been frank about the challenges it faces among GOP senators.
The Senate’s stopgap funding bill to avert a shutdown on Oct. 1 has cleared the first procedural hurdle, putting it on track for passage before lawmakers leave for the August recess.
Senators voted 89-4 to advance the measure, which would fund federal agencies through Dec. 11 at current levels, with some exceptions.
In order for a passage vote to happen ahead of the summer break, Senate leaders will need to strike a bipartisan time agreement to fast-track the measure to a final vote.
“It is a strong bipartisan piece of legislation, and I hope it will receive overwhelming support from both parties in the Senate,” Majority Leader John Thune said in a Monday floor speech.
Senate passage would up a potential battle with the House, because the stopgap measure the House passed two weeks ago has key differences from the Senate version. Identical versions must be passed to actually avert a shutdown at the end of the fiscal year.
The Senate measure includes language to bar the Trump administration from putting into action a plan to make political appointees in charge of approving grants, a prohibition that would last for the length of the stopgap. It also has language sought by Democrats to ensure Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement don’t get any new funding under the patch.
“The bill allows us to continue negotiating a budget that won’t leave working families behind,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday.
The White House did not respond to multiple requests for comment about if President Donald Trump supports the Senate measure. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), an appropriator and administration ally, said Monday he had spoken to Trump earlier in the day and believed the president is “comfortable” with the Senate bill.
Jordain Carney and Jennifer Scholtes contributed to this report.
Jack Smith, the former special counsel who brought criminal charges against President Donald Trump, has been invited to testify Sept. 22 before the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to an invitation from Chair Chuck Grassley reviewed by Blue Light News.
Smith previously testified before the House Judiciary Committee in January, but Grassley (R-Iowa) and his team have been probing Smith and his investigations for months.
Grassley recently revealed that Smith obtained text messages that 44 members of Congress sent to White House officials during the waning months of Trump’s first term leading up to and around the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
Grassley’s texts were among those accessed by Smith’s team, along with Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.).
“In the process of a deeply flawed, weaponized investigation, Jack Smith subpoenaed phone toll records from a dozen senators, scooped up text messages from over 40 members of Congress, and subpoenaed the private communications and financial records of hundreds of other Republican entities and individuals,” Grassley said in a statement.
“He needs to answer directly to Congress for his actions,” Grassley added. “Smith has requested to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and our committee looks forward to hearing from him as part of Congress’ investigation into Arctic Frost and his time as Special Counsel. Smith must be honest and forthcoming in his answers, because the American people deserve nothing less than full transparency and accountability.”
Lawyers for Smith did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
During the January hearing, Republicans focused on technicalities of how Smith investigated the probe into Trump’s election interference, such as whether he properly signed his oath of office and whether he was sufficiently versed on the Constitution’s “speech or debate” clause that protects members of Congress from criminal investigation for their lawmaking actions.
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