WASHINGTON—The U.S. House Budget Committee on Feb. 13 voted to advance a resolution that would enable Congress to begin drafting a bill to enact conservative policy measures promised by President Donald Trump during the 2024 election.
The process, known as budget reconciliation, is the only way Congress can pass legislation without bipartisan support, given that such reconciliation bills are not subject to the Senate’s cloture requirement to end debate with 60 votes.
Reconciliation bills can only relate to taxation, spending, and public borrowing. To begin the process, both houses of Congress must pass an identical budget resolution that instructs standing committees to make recommendations on increasing or reducing spending.
Republicans, with a three-seat majority in the Senate and a one-seat majority in the House, have the requisite albeit narrow margins to pass such a bill. During the Biden administration, the reconciliation process was used to pass two of the most consequential bills of his legislative agenda: the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
Through reconciliation, the party seeks to enact a wide range of measures, including allocating funds for a border wall and operations to remove illegal immigrants, making permanent several tax deductions from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017, and extending the federal government’s sovereign debt limit, which was reached on Dec. 31, 2024.
Mere policy changes that Trump has demanded—such as changes to asylum and immigration laws—are not permitted in the budget reconciliation, and the bill cannot increase the deficit after 10 years.
The House’s budget resolution proposes increasing spending on armed services by $100 billion, homeland security by $90 billion, and judicial matters by $110 billion, while also providing $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, primarily related to TCJA provisions. By contrast, it seeks to reduce spending on agriculture, education, energy, transportation, and the federal bureaucracy. It would also raise the federal government’s debt limit—the maximum amount the United States can legally borrow—by $4 trillion.
“We will deliver on the people’s mandate by advancing the FY25 budget resolution to restore the fiscal health of our nation by reining in reckless spending and reigniting economic growth,” House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) said at the outset of the hearing. “We will provide tax relief for working families and small businesses ... [and] critical resources to our border patrol agents and our troops to strengthen our military, secure our border, and bolster our Commander in Chief.”
Republicans have sought to make the resolution deficit-neutral, though the resolution itself doesn’t directly lead to a balanced budget. Instead, Republicans are expecting economic growth to increase and prompt a corresponding increase in tax revenue, which would pay for the bill.
During the hearing, many Democratic members introduced amendments to the resolution that would either secure progressive priorities or undermine conservative objectives, all of which were voted down by voice.
“This plan is a Republican betrayal of the middle class. It does not support hard-working Americans,” Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), the committee’s ranking member, said during his opening statement, echoing remarks by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and other Democrats.
“This budget rips health care away from millions while handing out $4.5 trillion in tax breaks, the overwhelming majority of which go to billionaires and wealthy corporations. It slashes at least $230 billion from food assistance programs at a time when grocery prices remain at record highs ... it proposes at least $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.”
The hearing lasted nearly 11 hours as Democrats introduced multiple amendments, all of which Republicans voted against.
At around 9 p.m., the committee adjourned after completing the markup process, disposing of all amendments, and voting to report the resolution to the floor. The resolution must pass a floor vote in the full House and then gain Senate approval before the bill drafting process can begin.
Even if the House passes the resolution, there is no guarantee that the Senate will approve it.
Unlike House Republicans—who seek merely one reconciliation bill addressing all priorities—the Senate wants to pass two bills for fiscal year 2025, ostensibly because it would enable better scrutiny of every provision.
Republicans will have to resolve these disagreements for the process to succeed.
