The House has the votes to pass the compromise budget resolution to begin the process of passing President Donald Trump’s signature legislation, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced on April 10.
A vote scheduled for April 9 was scrapped after Johnson could not secure the necessary 217 votes for passage.
“This process has required a lot of close consultation between the White House and the Senate, and all of that has been necessary because we want to make sure that we are delivering on our shared goals in the budget reconciliation process,” Johnson said.
He spoke during a press conference on Capitol Hill alongside Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.).
The reconciliation bill, which cannot pass until both chambers pass an identical budget resolution, would include provisions related to ending restraints on American energy, securing the border, and making the 2017 tax cuts permanent.
Johnson said that the House and Senate agree on cutting at least $1.5 trillion from the deficit over a decade while preserving entitlement programs such as Medicaid, which Democrats have said the GOP wants to cut.
The speaker said that the GOP wants to ensure that only those eligible to receive the program get it.
The $1.5 trillion figure is only a floor, not a ceiling, said Johnson, noting that Republicans want to find more in savings.
“We want to make government more efficient, effective, and leaner for the American people, and I think that will serve every American of every party, and we’re happy to do that this morning, we'll take the next big step in that process,” he said.
Thune echoed Johnson.
“Our ambition in the Senate is we are aligned with the House in terms of what their budget resolution outlined in terms of savings,” Thune said, noting that members of his conference also want to see deeper cuts.
“We’re certainly going to do everything we can to be as aggressive as possible, to see that we are serious about the matter, not only of making our federal government more fiscally sustainable but also deficit reduction, which is critical to a lot of our members in the Senate.”
Issues for House GOP holdouts include not enough cuts and the instructions for the Senate to raise the debt ceiling by $5 trillion.
The House instructions call for raising the borrowing limit by $4 trillion.
On April 10, Trump expressed confidence ahead of the House’s scheduled vote on the budget resolution.
