WASHINGTON (States Newsroom) — U.S. Senate Republicans plan to vote on their budget resolution this week as planned, despite President Donald Trump throwing his support behind the House’s budget on Wednesday morning.
“I think he’s made it clear for a long time that he would prefer one big, beautiful bill,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said. “And we’re fine with that too. If the House can produce one big, beautiful bill, we’re prepared to work with them to get that across the finish line.”
“But we believe that the president also likes optionality. And the legislation that we’ll be working and voting on tomorrow addresses those three critical priorities,” the South Dakota Republican added, referring to border security, defense and energy.
Normally, the House and Senate each could continue down their own paths and then simply go to conference to work out the differences between their two versions of legislation.
But the GOP plans to use the complicated budget reconciliation process, which requires the two chambers first vote to adopt identical budget resolutions with reconciliation instructions. They can then draft, debate and vote on the actual reconciliation bill without needing any Democratic votes.
That’s not currently happening and instead, House and Senate Republicans are essentially holding a staring contest over the budget resolution.
Democrats predict either option will mean “massive cuts” in Medicaid, the health care program for lower income people, and on Wednesday urged Americans throughout the country who rely on Medicaid for their or a family member’s health care to call up GOP members of Congress and urge them not to cut benefits.
The Senate option
The Senate released its budget resolution and voted it out of the Budget Committee earlier this month. The 62-page document proposes that Congress provide hundreds of billions of dollars for border security and defense programs along with substantial changes to energy policy in one bill.
Under the Senate’s proposal, Congress then would adopt a second budget resolution with reconciliation instructions later this year to extend the 2017 Republican tax law, much of which is set to expire at the end of the year.
Senate Budget Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said this approach would get the Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security the funding they need right now, while giving the GOP a bit more time to debate tax law and figure out how to pay for that legislation.
The House option
House Republicans released their own budget resolution last week and approved it in committee. Their reconciliation instructions propose making all of the changes at one time in one bill.
Trump posted on social media Wednesday morning he favored the House’s budget resolution, after staying out of the disagreement for months.
“The House and Senate are doing a SPECTACULAR job of working together as one unified, and unbeatable, TEAM, however, unlike the Lindsey Graham version of the very important Legislation currently being discussed, the House Resolution implements my FULL America First Agenda, EVERYTHING, not just parts of it!,” Trump wrote.
“We need both Chambers to pass the House Budget to ‘kickstart’ the Reconciliation process, and move all of our priorities to the concept of, ‘ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL,’” Trump added. “It will, without question, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, welcomed Trump’s announcement, writing in a statement “Republicans in both chambers should follow Trump’s lead – endorse it, unlock the most consequential legislation in modern history, and Make America Great Again!”
