Congress
House Republicans advance their budget after appeasing hard-liners
Score one for the backers of “one big, beautiful bill.”
House Republicans launched their budget plan out of committee Thursday night — the first legislative step toward fulfilling President Donald Trump’s policy agenda but at odds with the Senate’s continued pursuit of a “two-track” plan.
The House Budget Committee voted to approve a budget resolution along party lines, 21-16, after a marathon markup. In order to rally enough Republican support to push the measure over the finish line, GOP leaders placated fiscal conservatives by tweaking the blueprint that will ultimately allow them to pass a massive bill tackling tax cuts, border security, defense spending and energy policy — all while sidestepping the Senate filibuster.
“This budget resolution provides the fiscal framework for what will be one of the most consequential pieces of legislation in modern history,” House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) said, “and the principal legislative vehicle for delivering on President Trump’s ‘America first’ agenda.”
The changes to the budget resolution, if adopted by both chambers, would force Republicans to cut more spending in exchange for tax cuts. It could curtail their ability to deliver on Trump’s most prominent campaign-trail promises, like nixing taxes on tips, while also alienating swing-district Republicans uncomfortable with slashing safety net programs like SNAP food assistance to low-income households.
Democrats are already blasting it. “How can my colleagues across the aisle take money that is meant to put food on people’s tables and instead use that money so a CEO can deduct the cost of a private jet?” Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.) said during the markup, calling the plan “a betrayal of the middle class.”
A floor vote on the fiscal blueprint is House GOP leaders’ next challenge in the arduous process of unlocking the filibuster-skirting power of reconciliation. The budget measure would allow the House’s tax panel to come up with tax cuts that increase the deficit by up to $4.5 trillion over a decade, while ordering other committees to cut enough from mandatory spending programs to reduce the deficit by $1.5 trillion.
“We do not have a revenue problem in the United States. We have a spending problem,” Rep. Erin Houchin (R-Ind.) said during the markup. “And House Republicans, with this budget resolution that we’ve crafted, are taking steps to try to get us on the right path.”
Because the budget resolution is just 45 pages long and only broadly outlines how much Republicans can grow or shrink the deficit in a final bill, Democrats won’t be able to sharpen their attacks on the party-line proposal until Republicans draft the actual package, which is expected to be hundreds of pages long, if not more than a thousand.
So on Thursday, Democrats on the Budget Committee spent more than seven hours peppering their GOP colleagues with amendments that would nix the committee orders included in the fiscal blueprint. They also branded the GOP plan “the Republican ripoff” and noted that it allows for a $3.3 trillion increase in the deficit over a decade.
“Just think about it. You talk about how bad the deficits are and then say: That’s why I’m voting for the bill that increases the deficit,” said Virginia Rep. Bobby Scott, a member of the budget panel and also the top Democrat on the House Education Committee.
The panel defeated all 32 amendments Democrats offered, including several proposals aimed at stopping Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency from slashing federal funding and accessing federal systems that contain sensitive information about Americans. Democrats also proposed amendments aimed at protecting funding for in-kind food assistance programs, Meals on Wheels and other initiatives funded through block grants to states for social services.
Of the two Republican amendments offered Thursday, both were adopted. One, the compromisethat won the House Freedom Caucus endorsement of the resolution, would shrink the amount of tax cuts Republicans can enact if they don’t cut $2 trillion in spending at the same time. The other would ensure Republicans include the text of the REINS Act in their final reconciliation bill. That measure, a perennial favorite of congressional Republicans, would curtail federal rule-making across government.
If House Republicans can adopt the budget resolution on the floor later this month, they stand to increase their clout in the ongoing debate with Senate GOP leaders over how to package their party-line ambitions.
Almost four weeks into Trump’s presidency, House Republicans are still demanding one whopping package that includes trillions of dollars worth of tax cuts, while Senate Republicans root for a plan that leaves tax cuts for later and first delivers border security, defense spending and energy policy. Even Trump’s top advisers and Cabinet officials remain divided.
In the Senate, Budget Chair Lindsey Graham of South Carolina sent a message to his House counterparts during his own budget markup this week: “I hope you will consider what we do if you cannot produce the one big, beautiful bill quickly.”
Graham’s budget, which would pave the way for one slimmer bill now and then another later, could come to the Senate floor as soon as next week. The House is due to schedule a vote on its proposal the last week of February.
If Republican leaders want to enact any major legislation without input from Democrats in the GOP’s first months with “trifecta” control in Washington, Republicans will need to quickly unite around one strategy. Neither chamber can advance a final package until both approve an identical budget measure to unlock the reconciliation power they need to skirt the Senate filibuster. Of course, both chambers also have to pass the same final bill to clear it for Trump’s signature.
Congress
Trump lauds Schumer’s ‘guts’ in backing bill to avoid shutdown
President Donald Trump on Friday congratulated Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for “doing the right thing” by backing the Republican-led bill to avert a government shutdown, a choice that’s put the New York Democrat at odds with many in his party.
“A non pass would be a Country destroyer, approval will lead us to new heights,” wrote the president Friday morning on Truth Social. “Again, really good and smart move by Senator Schumer,” wrote the president on Truth Social.
“Took ‘guts’ and courage!” Trump added.
Schumer is facing an onslaught of criticism from his left flank, with some progressive activists now referring to the lawmaker’s decision to vote for the House GOP-passed, seven-month funding measure as the “Schumer surrender.”
Trump, in that social media post, also said he wants to address demand for California wildfire aid in a separate Republican bill encompassing his top policy priorities.
Congress
Dems ask Trump admin to explain Khalil’s arrest, calling it ‘playbook of authoritarians’
More than 100 House Democrats on Friday sent a letter to top Trump officials, decrying the arrest of a former Columbia graduate student as an attack on the First Amendment and questioning the murky legal authority invoked by the administration.
The lawmakers, including authors Reps. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Mary Gay Scanlon of Pennsylvania, addressed the letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The letter, first obtained by Blue Light News, slams the use of a Cold War-era section of the Immigration and Nationality Act to deport Mahmoud Khalil as the “playbook of authoritarians.” The law was aimed at protecting national interests against potential foreign intervention.
The letter also calls on the administration to answer questions about its actions, including what “evidentiary grounds” Rubio has relied upon to conclude that Khalil’s presence in the United States threatens “serious adverse foreign policy consequences” — and what those foreign policy consequences might be.
The letter asks the administration to respond by March 27 with answers, as well as documents, including legal memoranda, that explain the administration’s findings.
“The deployment of a dusty old statutory section to punish speech is a dangerous attack on both the First Amendment and on all, including lawful permanent residents, who enjoy its protection,” the letter states. “This maneuver evokes the Alien and Sedition Acts and McCarthyism. It is the playbook of authoritarians, not of elected officials in a democratic society who claim to be the champions of free speech.”
Khalil, a Palestinian graduate student who played a central role in campus protests at Columbia University over the Israel-Hamas war, was arrested over the weekend — marking a significant shift in the U.S. government’s use of its immigration enforcement powers. Khalil is a permanent resident with a green card, but was taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody as President Donald Trump promised more such arrests are coming.
The administration has argued that the protests are antisemitic, and some Jewish students have reported feeling threatened by the demonstrations on college campuses against Israel’s attacks on Gaza. The administration has accused Khalil of leading “activities aligned to Hamas,” but has not provided specific evidence — nor has he been charged or convicted of any crimes.
The administration is relying on a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 — a rarely invoked authority that allows Rubio to expel foreigners. The provision, which is set to be tested in the courts, says that any “alien whose presence or activities in the United States the secretary of state has reasonable ground to believe would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States is deportable.”
Khalil’s detainment sparked outrage from activists, free speech groups and several Democrats. A judge has halted his deportation, but his fate remains uncertain as the arrest raises a number of legal questions, including significant constitutional ones.
“Weaponizing the immigration system to crush and chill protected free speech puts our nation on the side of authoritarian leaders like Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping,” the Democrats wrote. “We urge you to turn back before you suffer another stinging loss in court and visit terrible damage on the country.”
Congress
Capitol agenda: Schumer stops a shutdown
Chuck Schumer has given Senate Democrats an out — drastically lowering the chances of a government shutdown Saturday.
The Senate minority leader, both privately to his caucus Thursday and in a floor speech shortly after, said he would vote to advance a GOP-written stopgap to fund the government through September. He said Republicans’ spending bill is “very bad.” But he argued the “potential for a shutdown has consequences for America that are much, much worse” and would empower President Donald Trump and Elon Musk to further gut federal agencies.
It’s a remarkable shift. Just 24 hours before, Schumer had said Senate Republicans didn’t have enough Democratic support to clear the 60-vote threshold to advance House Republicans’ continuing resolution, or CR.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has now teed up that procedural vote for 1:15 p.m. — and indicated he’d be willing to give Democrats a poised-to-fail vote on a four-week stopgap as part of a deal to speed up passage for Republicans’ CR. All 100 senators would have to green-light that, and as of Thursday evening, Schumer said there was no time agreement.
Republicans need eight Democrats to join them to advance the CR. There are at least two on board: Schumer and Sen. John Fetterman, who has for days been saying he wouldn’t vote for a shutdown.
But even as Schumer gave Democrats cover, a handful announced or reiterated their “no” votes after his speech. Several have yet to publicly weigh in.
The backlash to Schumer’s call was swift. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries didn’t criticize Schumer directly in private comments to his caucus but said House Democrats “stood on the side of the American people.” And Rep. Jim McGovern said he was “extremely disappointed.”
“It gives them the ability, Elon Musk the ability, to go through and continue to do the shit he’s doing,” McGovern added.
What else we’re watching:
- Trump backs John Thune’s tax plan: Trump indicated to GOP senators during a private meeting Thursday that he supports the Senate majority leader’s plan to use a controversial accounting method that would make trillions of dollars in tax cuts appear to cost nothing — a move that would make it easier to advance the president’s other tax priorities. But House hard-liners remain skeptical of the idea, even as Speaker Mike Johnson has increasingly indicated he’s open to it.
- Crypto bill advances: Senate Banking on Thursday approved digital assets legislation that would create a regulatory structure for stablecoins, marking the first time a Senate panel has ever advanced major crypto legislation. It was one of Congress’ most significant steps yet toward giving the crypto sector a long-sought stamp of legitimacy that could turbocharge its growth. Five Democrats voted for the GOP-led legislation, despite strong opposition from the top Democrat on the Banking panel, Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
- Ted Cruz pushes NIL regulations: The Senate Commerce chair plans to hold hearings and markups on regulating college athletes’ ability to profit off their personal brand — what’s commonly referred to as name, image and likeness issues — and said he’s building bipartisan support on it. Lawmakers are showing increased interest in the topic: House Judiciary is planning a roundtable on it next month.
Meredith Lee Hill, Benjamin Guggenheim, Jordain Carney, Jasper Goodman and Ben Leonard contributed to this report.
-
The Josh Fourrier Show4 months ago
DOOMSDAY: Trump won, now what?
-
Uncategorized4 months ago
Bob Good to step down as Freedom Caucus chair this week
-
Economy4 months ago
Fed moves to protect weakening job market with bold rate cut
-
Uncategorized4 months ago
Johnson plans to bring House GOP short-term spending measure to House floor Wednesday
-
Economy4 months ago
It’s still the economy: What TV ads tell us about each campaign’s closing message
-
Politics4 months ago
RFK Jr.’s bid to take himself off swing state ballots may scramble mail-in voting
-
Politics4 months ago
How Republicans could foil Harris’ Supreme Court plans if she’s elected
-
Politics4 months ago
What 7 political experts will be watching at Tuesday’s debate