Trump budget bill raising debt limit by $4T advances in House
A significant bill that aims to advance a wide array of President Donald Trump’s policy goals has overcome a crucial hurdle, bringing Republicans closer to their objective of passing the bill by May. The legislation successfully passed the House Budget Committee with a party-line vote of 21 to 16 and is anticipated to be presented to the entire chamber for a floor vote later this month.
Despite last-minute negotiations that had cast doubt on the bill’s potential passage, it managed to proceed through the committee meeting on Thursday morning. The 45-page resolution instructs various House committees to identify a minimum of $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, with $300 billion in new spending earmarked for border security, national defense, and the judiciary. Additionally, the bill allocates $4 trillion to increase the debt limit and includes $4.5 trillion to extend Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) and other tax provisions for the next decade.
House and Senate Republicans are utilizing the budget reconciliation process to push through a broad range of Trump’s policy objectives, ranging from border security to the elimination of taxes on tipped and overtime wages. By lowering the threshold for passage in the Senate from two-thirds to a simple majority, the GOP intends to pass legislation with zero Democratic support, as long as the measures pertain to the budget and fiscal matters.
Conservative spending hawks within the House Budget Committee had insisted on assurances that Republicans would make significant spending cuts to offset new spending on Trump’s tax priorities. House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, confirmed that an amendment had been agreed upon to address concerns raised by committee Republicans. The amendment stipulates that there must be a corresponding reduction in the $4.5 trillion tax allocation if spending cuts fall short of $2 trillion.
While the House successfully advanced its proposal after resolving disagreements over spending cut baselines, the process is far from over. The Senate passed a narrower bill on Wednesday that included funding for the border and defense but deferred Trump’s tax cuts to a subsequent package. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., dismissed the Senate bill as a “nonstarter” in the House.
Moving forward, both chambers must reconcile their differing versions of the bill and pass identical legislation before it can be sent to President Trump for approval. With narrow majorities in both the House and Senate, Republicans must maintain unity to ensure the bill’s passage.Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News. Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com.
