Congress
House budget resolution in limbo as conservatives push deeper spending cuts and work requirements
A planned markup on House GOP leaders’ budget plan is less than 24 hours away — and they currently don’t have the votes to pass it.
The House Budget Committee released text of their one-bill proposal to tackle the border, energy and taxes Wednesday morning, which includes $1.5 trillion in minimum spending cuts. The panel plans to meet Thursday to markup and possibly vote to advance the resolution.
It was immediately panned by some hard-liners in the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, who huddled in the basement of the Capitol Wednesday afternoon to discuss it. They’re pushing for at least $500 billion in additional spending cuts, as well as work requirements for Medicaid, food aid benefits and another safety net program to be guaranteed in the resolution.
Critically, two of those skeptical conservatives sit on the panel and could tank it in committee if they side with Democrats and vote against advancing the budget resolution — and Reps. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) and Chip Roy (R-Texas) say they’re not on board yet.
Norman said he wants the minimum spending cuts raised from $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion — a move that GOP leaders have resisted for weeks amid pushback from Republicans in more politically competitive districts.
Norman and other Budget Committee members would push for deeper spending cuts across Medicaid, including enacting per capita caps for states, which President Donald Trump has not publicly backed. But hard-liners say the White House has been open to some Medicaid reforms.
Conservatives also want to write into the resolution the first-ever work requirements for Medicaid, and expanded work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which currently helps feed more than 40 million low-income Americans.
House Republicans have coalesced around such moves, including for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. But writing the requirements into the resolution would force committees to carry out the specific instructions, rather than allowing them to determine language on work requirements that would not alienate more vulnerable members.
Hard-liners will also push several other spending cuts during the Budget panel markup Thursday, looking to reach $2 trillion in guaranteed reductions. Norman said they would again push to rescind a swath of Inflation Reduction Act tax credits under the Ways and Means Committee jurisdiction — including biofuel incentives that Republicans in farm districts are fiercely defending.
Norman also wants to add the REINS act, which curtails federal rule-making.
Sen. Susan Collins said Tuesday she will vote against Todd Blanche’s confirmation as attorney general.
The Maine Republican, who is facing a difficult race for reelection, said in a statement she would oppose Blanche, citing “several actions that have further eroded the Department’s independence.” She specifically mentioned his role in a controversial IRS settlement with President Donald Trump and over having “promised an anti-abortion organization that he would seek to prohibit the mailing of abortion medication to women nationwide.”
Two other Republicans — Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — are known to still be undecided; Blanche needs one of their votes to secure confirmation.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) has once again broken ranks with House Democratic leadership over endorsements, this time to support former Missouri Rep. Cori Bush over incumbent Rep. Wesley Bell.
In a post to social media Tuesday, Pressley called on voters to elect “champions” like Bush, who is in a heated primary rematch Tuesday in a contest that lays bare the party’s divide over Israel.
“Whether in Massachusetts, Michigan or Missouri, we all need politicians who fight for us, not corporations,” Pressley said. Her endorsement comes as voters head to the polls for primaries in both Michigan and Missouri, where progressive challengers are taking on moderate incumbents.
It marks the second time this primary cycle Pressley has endorsed against candidates backed by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.). Last month, she joined a handful of other Congressional Black Caucus members to support Michigan state Rep. Donavan McKinney in his bid to unseat Democratic Rep. Shri Thanedar.
A spokesperson for Jeffries did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Pressley’s endorsement also sets her squarely against the establishment wing of the party: both Bush and McKinney have been endorsed by their local Democratic Socialists of America chapters.
But the endorsement is unsurprising: she and Bush served as members of the progressive “Squad” in the last Congress and often worked together on legislation. In a previous interview with POLITICO, Bush said she and Pressley continued to talk regularly, even after Bell unseated her in 2024.
Todd Blanche picked up an important GOP vote Tuesday for his nomination as attorney general — Sen. John Curtis of Utah — likely leaving him just one vote shy of securing confirmation.
Curtis said in a statement he plans to “support” Blanche and was pleased with the nominee’s “receptivity and understanding” of issues raised, including ending the “Anti-Weaponization Fund” created under a May settlement Blanche brokered between the IRS and President Donald Trump.
The announcement came moments after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted on party lines to advance Blanche’s nomination to the full Senate.
Crucial to that vote was Blanche agreeing in writing that the $1.8 billion payout fund was nullified and that another aspect of the settlement — an IRS audit immunity agreement — was scaled back. That gave GOP Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina enough comfort to vote for Blanche.
The remaining undecided Republican senators are Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. All three said Tuesday they are still grappling with their decisions.
“I’m still considering everything,” Collins said. “I watched part of the markup this morning to hear some of the statements, but I don’t have any decision to share with you right now.”
Murkowski declined to say how she would vote, and Cassidy told reporters that he had “nothing about Todd Blanche” to say.
Cornyn said he has already spoken with Collins and Murkowski and that additional conversations are expected.
“Senator Collins, she’s one of the most diligent individuals I know, certainly here in the United States Senate, and we had a good conversation.” Cornyn said. “She’ll have to speak for herself as to her ultimate conclusion. And I’ve also been exchanging messages with Senator Murkowski, and I know we’ll have further conversations about this.”
Jordain Carney and Calen Razor contributed to this report.
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