GOP leaders plan to punt on major fights in Trump agenda bill [View all]

Source: Politico

03/26/2025 04:48 PM EDT


Republican leaders want to delay decisions on some of their biggest fights as they race to show progress toward enacting President Donald Trump’s sweeping domestic agenda of tax cuts, border security and energy policies. With GOP lawmakers desperate to finalize a budget framework for the planned megabill before an upcoming Easter recess, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune are signaling that they will move forward on the fiscal blueprint without first resolving major disputes over the offsets — including potentially huge cuts to Medicaid.

“The White House is making clear we need to unlock the process now and fight about the details later,” said a senior House Republican aide who was granted anonymity to share private conversations. The way forward will involve the House and Senate approving a budget resolution that defers to each chamber’s respective committees on how much money the panels will need to trim from programs under their purviews.

Senate Budget Chair Lindsey Graham said there are hopes the chamber could vote on a new blueprint as soon as next week that reflects this emerging strategy. An alternative would have been for House and Senate GOP negotiators to hash out identical spending cut targets across corresponding committees, which would trigger big disagreements about the size and scope of those targets.

Instead, their plan will allow for the House Energy and Commerce Committee to proceed with a $880 billion floor for savings — which could result in major reductions in Medicaid benefits, a prospect that has made Republicans across Capitol Hill uneasy — while setting a different goal for the Senate panels with similar jurisdiction. “No, that’s a House instruction,” Thune said in an interview, when asked if Senate Republicans would change the Energy and Commerce savings target. “It will be a different instruction in the Senate.”

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/26/house-senate-gop-to-punt-major-megabill-fights-as-they-move-budget-plan-00250884