House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has formally challenged Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to debate the Republicans’ budget blueprint on the floor of the lower chamber.
In a letter sent to the Speaker on Tuesday, Jeffries requested a “one-on-one debate” on Wednesday over the nuances of the GOP budget resolution, which is designed to shepherd President Trump’s sweeping domestic agenda — including tax cuts, tougher immigration laws and a boost in energy production — into law later this year.
“The American people deserve to know the truth,” Jeffries wrote. “I look forward to a one-on-one debate with you on the House Floor to fully and transparently explain and defend our differing budget values to the American people.”
Approached by reporters in the Capitol on Tuesday afternoon, Johnson said he had not seen the letter but suggested he might accept the challenge.
“That’s interesting. I’m happy to debate him anytime,” Johnson said.
The challenge comes as Johnson and his leadership team are scrambling to rally House Republicans behind the Senate-passed budget blueprint, which is facing imposing opposition from House conservatives wary that it doesn’t cut deficits sharply enough.
Amid the Republicans’ internal battle, Jeffries and the Democrats have sought to make the vote tougher for vulnerable Republicans. They’ve done so by characterizing Trump’s agenda as a kind-of reverse Robin Hood scheme that would slash federal programs benefiting low- and working-class people — including food stamps and Medicaid — in order to secure the savings to underwrite trillions of dollars in tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.
Republicans have dismissed those allegations, saying their cost-cutting efforts will focus on waste, fraud and abuse.
It’s that debate that Jeffries wants to take to the floor with Johnson on Wednesday.
“Over the weekend, the Senate passed a Budget Resolution that would cut Medicaid, food assistance and veterans benefits in order to provide a $7 trillion tax break that would primarily benefit wealthy billionaires like Elon Musk,” Jeffries wrote.
“Republican Members of Congress have repeatedly denied that painful cuts will be made,” he continued. “However, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has confirmed that based on the text of the budget proposal there is nowhere else for cuts of such magnitude to come from other than areas like the critical healthcare programs relied upon by everyday Americans to survive.”
Complicating the debate for GOP leaders, Trump’s tariffs have led to a stock market selloff in recent days while threatening a global recession. The slump has heightened the pressure on Johnson and Republican leaders to secure a win on the budget and get the ball rolling on Trump’s domestic agenda — policies they say will benefit the economy handsomely over the long term.
“The budget, with reconciliation, will bring a lot of certainty to the markets. It will bring a lot of investment,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) told reporters on Tuesday. “That’s on Congress to deliver, so we’ve got to do our part.”