Now the really hard work starts. The House GOP kept enough Republicans in line Tuesday evening to advance a budget plan that’s aimed at passing all of President Donald Trump’s spending and tax priorities in one giant package.
But the House and Senate GOP are miles apart on both strategy and details, and they’ll have to agree on a plan before they go forward with the reconciliation legislation that will be necessary to actually enact spending increases and decreases and to extend expiring tax cuts.
The House resolution, which was approved 217-215 Wednesday evening, would authorize at least $1.5 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years and allow for up to $4.5 trillion in tax cuts over that period, all in one sweeping reconciliation bill. In a bow to hardline conservatives, the tax cuts would have to be scaled back to $4 trillion if lawmakers don’t find at least $2 trillion in spending cuts.
The resolution the Senate passed last Friday is much more modest. It would leave tax cuts to later legislation and would require just $5 billion in cuts, although that number is just considered a starting point. The main thrust of the Senate resolution is to increase spending for the military and border security.
Besides the scope of the spending cuts, another key difference is the House limit on tax cuts. The $4.5 trillion limit alone is likely not enough to pay to make permanent the expiring provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, a key priority for Senate Republicans.
Trump at one point endorsed the House’s one-step strategy, but on Tuesday he wouldn’t come down on either side.
“The House has a bill, and the Senate has a bill and I’m looking at them both. …. Each one of them has things that I like so we’ll see if we can come together,” Trump told reporters.
Potential major cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are major stumbling blocks for some Republicans in both the House and the Senate.
GOP Whip Tom Emmer, D-Minn. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, D-Minn., told reporters ahead of the vote that getting the budget resolution through the chamber would provide leverage with the Senate in coming talks. “This is important for the House, so the House can actually be in the driver's seat when we're negotiating,” Emmer said.
The House resolution would require the House Agriculture Committee to find $230 billion in cuts, which Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., has said would require reducing SNAP benefits. However, he also has stressed that he doesn’t think the Senate will go for a cut anywhere near that size.
Thompson told reporters on Monday that any cuts to SNAP would likely focus on improving program integrity. However, there is also significant pressure in the House for expanding SNAP work requirements to people in their 60s. The age limit is currently 54.
Nebraska GOP Rep. Don Bacon, a House Ag Committee member who represents a swing district in metropolitan Omaha, said he was assured by Thompson that the SNAP cut would be lower than the resolution called for.
Bacon acknowledged that bridging the gaps between the House and Senate versions would be challenging. “It’s going to be hard, I think,” Bacon said. “Unless Trump weighs in and starts putting his foot behind a few people’s behinds.”
Another House Ag member, Rick Crawford, R-Ark., said he was confident the two chambers will arrive at the “right number” for SNAP cuts after some give and take.
“The terrain has changed considerably and more favorably, and so I expect a positive resolution,” Crawford said. “And even though we may be a little bit apart, we’ll get where we need to be.”
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