Growing opposition among hardline House conservatives to the Senate’s framework for advancing President Trump’s ambitious legislative agenda is threatening to make this week’s vote one of the heaviest lifts yet for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
At least 10 House Republicans have said they will vote “no” on the measure and a handful of others have publicly criticized the resolution, creating an uphill battle for Johnson as he looks to muscle it through his razor-thin majority.
Johnson is eyeing a Wednesday vote on the Senate-approved budget resolution, which would unlock the reconciliation process that Republicans are looking to use to pass tax cuts, border funding and energy policy. The Speaker is actively urging his ranks to fall in line and the White House has begun making calls to House Republicans, a source told The Hill.
But a mounting swell of resistance among fiscal hawks who want commitments on large spending cuts upfront is putting that plan in jeopardy.
Underscoring the discontent, Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), the chair of the hardline House Freedom Caucus who has sharply criticized the budget resolution, is advocating for the chamber to skip the vote altogether and move straight to crafting the details of the package — an unconventional move that would be a break from protocol. Asked about prospects of the bill passing, Harris said Monday: “It doesn’t need to. The committees can do their work without the budget resolution.”
That idea, to be sure, has no chance of being picked up by House GOP leaders. Johnson told reporters “we disagree on that” when asked about the prospect. The view of House GOP leadership is that the House can stay in the driver’s seat and secure major cuts if they pass the budget resolution and craft the details of the ultimate reconciliation legislation faster than the Senate.
But the sheer mention of the delay is signaling that conservatives have little appetite for moving forward with the measure this week. Johnson said he would be meeting with the Freedom Caucus to talk about the budget resolution later Monday evening.
The growing discontent within House Republican ranks is increasing the likelihood that Trump — who endorsed the measure and said “We need to pass it IMMEDIATELY!” — may have to step in personally, as he did to secure Johnson’s re-election as Speaker and passage of the House budget resolution back in February.
He leaned into that lobby campaign on Monday, writing on Truth Social “THE HOUSE MUST PASS THIS BUDGET RESOLUTION, AND QUICKLY.”
“There is no better time than now to get this Deal DONE!” he added.
Johnson told reporters on Monday that the president has not yet gotten involved in the effort to ramp up support for the measure, but a White House official suggested that the president was ready to jump in as needed.
“President Trump has great relationships on Capitol Hill, and his team is regularly engaging with the House to urge the passage of the Senate Amendment to the House budget resolution in line with the American people’s priorities,” the White House official said.
House GOP Conference Chair Lisa McClain (R-Mich.), for her part, predicted that Trump’s involvement would take shape soon.
“It is personal with the president. He cares very deeply about our country and the situation that we’re in, and this is his vision on how to get it done,” McClain said. “So yes, I think he will personally get involved.”
The first key test for Johnson and House GOP leadership will come on Tuesday, when the House Rules Committee — which includes two opponents of the framework, Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) — is expected to take up the budget resolution and dispatch it to the floor for a vote.
The committee opted to push consideration of the budget resolution from Monday — the day bills are typically examined by the panel — to Tuesday, signaling potential trouble for the resolution. Norman said he did not yet know how he plans to vote in committee, but he was clear in his opposition to the measure.
“Why are we abandoning?” Norman asked. “I mean, $4 billion versus $2 trillion? I don’t get it; the math doesn’t add up.”
On the House floor, Johnson faces a towering math problem. In the razor-thin GOP majority, the Speaker can only afford to lose three Republican votes and clear the measure, assuming full Democratic opposition and complete attendance. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Monday stressed to House Democrats that it was crucial to be present for the vote.
The opposition is not limited to hardliners like those in the Freedom Caucus. Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), the chairman of the House Budget Committee, went after the resolution over the weekend, calling it “unserious and disappointing.”
Johnson, for his part, is remaining optimistic amid the growing opposition, encouraged by the fact that he still has time to get his members in line — 48 hours is an eternity in Washington — in addition to Trump’s strong endorsement of the measure.
“It’s going great,” Johnson said when asked how he plans to get the measure over the finish line. “We’re doing what we do here every week and that’s building consensus and I need a little time. Everybody’s just now getting in town so we’ll have plenty of time to do it.”
McClain also struck an optimistic tone.
“Do we have the votes as we sit right here today? No, I don’t think that’s a surprise to anybody. You can see,” McClain said. “But that’s how we always start out, right?”
The concerns among hardline conservatives are two-fold. First, those on the right flank are incensed that the budget resolution includes different spending cut minimums for each chamber. House committees are directed to find at least $1.5 trillion in cuts to federal spending, the same number laid out in the lower chamber’s budget resolution, while Senate panels are directed to make at least $4 billion in slashes — an enormous discrepancy.
Johnson has argued that, despite the differences, the House will still pursue significant spending cuts.
“Although the Senate chose to take a different approach on its instructions, the amended resolution in NO WAY prevents us from achieving our goals in the final reconciliation bill,” he wrote in a letter to colleagues over the weekend.
Hardliners, however, are not buying it, convinced that the final product will be closer in line with the Senate’s instructions — a fact that moderates are gunning for amid worries over potential cuts to social safety net programs.
“I don’t like it,” Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas) said of the resolution, noting that she was considering voting against it. “There’s no emphasis on the budget decreases.”
Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.) also said he was “undecided” about the budget resolution, adding: “I want to hear the minutia of it.”
Second, hardliners have hammered away at the Senate for utilizing a budgetary gimmick known as current policy baseline, which assumes that the extension of the 2017 Trump tax cuts will not add to the deficit — despite the Congressional Budget Office saying they could cost around $4 trillion.
Senators have embraced the scoring tactic in their effort to permanently extend the 2017 tax cuts — a key request from the president — which conservatives are rolling their eyes at.
“From budget gimmicks to a pathetic $4B in spending cuts, the Senate’s budget resolution is a non-starter,” Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) wrote on X over the weekend. “We need to be serious about delivering on President Trump’s America First agenda in a FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE manner. If this comes to the floor in its current form, I’m a NO.”