There still is a lot of work to be done, but House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) scored a major victory late Tuesday night when the House narrowly advanced a budget resolution that was necessary for final passage of President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda.
The victory was not an easy one. Johnson spent the day hosting meetings in his office with Republican holdouts, pushing them to advance the top-line numbers to the proper committees of jurisdiction, which will now turn those instructions into actual legislative text. The top-line budget numbers call for $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, the details of which will be determined by the House Ways and Means Committee, and $2 trillion in spending cuts. These are spread among a number of committees, including the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has been charged with finding $880 million in cuts that are expected to come largely from Medicaid.
By 6:30 p.m., Johnson and his lieutenants thought they had the votes lined up for final passage, but when a trio of Democrats who missed votes earlier in the day suddenly materialized to vote against the budget resolution, Johnson did what good leaders do and recalibrated. The votes weren’t there. Johnson had to stop the vote that was already in progress.
But he didn’t panic. Instead, he called in help from Trump, who secured the final three votes to get the resolution to the 217 votes needed to advance.
“There’s no quid pro quo, but the president assured me that he would work toward cuts, and he’s never lied to me,” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN), one of the last holdouts, told reporters. “He’s always been honest about it.”
Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN) also credited Trump’s last-minute intervention, noting his “personal” commitment to “save healthcare and make it better for physical and fiscal health for all Americans.”
Being the good team player that he is, Johnson was eager to share credit for the win with the president.
“He was a big help, as always,” Johnson said with a smile as he left the House floor after the vote.
“Trump helped us with a number of members,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) added. “Trump has been an incredible ally in this whole process.”
This is the way the House should be run by Republicans when the margin for control is so razor-thin. Johnson did a fantastic job listening to members, incorporating their views into the legislative strategy, and moving the ball down the field to where victory was in sight. One sticking point throughout the debate among the Republican caucus was the extent to which Medicaid cuts would be used to reach the spending reduction goals demanded by fiscal hawks and the White House. Johnson finally settled on not using the word “Medicaid” in the final resolution while still assigning the size of the cuts expected from Medicaid to the proper committee. This political relief valve apparently enabled a number of centrists to vote for the bill.
By bringing the resolution to the goal line, just three votes away from victory, Johnson was able to call the president in to finish the job, which he did ably. Trump does not have the time or aptitude, and his talents would be wasted overseeing the day-to-day legislative process in the House. That is Johnson’s job. But Trump also has tremendous political power he can wield within the party, and Johnson was wise to tap that power when needed.
The House budget resolution now heads to the Senate, where it will face some headwinds from Republicans who insist tax cuts in the final legislation should be large enough to be made permanent. As mentioned, the House budget calls for just $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, while the Congressional Budget Office placed the price tag of making the 2017 Trump tax cuts permanent at $4.6 trillion last May. That price has almost certainly gone up to at least $5 trillion, and that is before any of Trump’s other campaign promises, such as no tax on tips, are thrown into the deal.
The Senate passed its own budget resolution, one that increases spending on immigration enforcement and defense. These are essential items that need to be funded. But passing them by themselves would reduce the leverage Johnson and Trump need to secure passage in the House. Going with the Senate two-bill strategy could turn out to be the legislative equivalent of having candy before dinner. Johnson knows what is needed to secure his conference, and tax legislation is not going to get the job done. Trump wants one “big beautiful bill,” and Senate Republicans should work with their House colleagues to make it happen.
TRUMP IS MAKING THE SEPARATION OF POWERS GREAT AGAIN
House speaker is never an easy job, especially when margins are thin, and a significant portion of your caucus seems more interested in scoring political points than actually governing. It is nearly impossible when the opposing party controls the White House, making conservative governing outcomes impossible.
But Trump is in the White House now. The possibility for real conservative progress to be made on a number of matters, including cutting government spending, is now very real. Johnson has seen that opportunity, and with Trump’s help, he is seizing it. Conservatives everywhere should be thankful that he is where he is to get the job done.