House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is struggling to corral rogue members of the House Republican Conference during this week's Congressional recess to support his budget resolution. But his chances of success appear to be dwindling by the day.
That's according to a Tuesday article in Politico, which reported that there are at least a dozen House Republicans on the fence about the budget bill for various philosophical reasons. And because the House Republican majority is so slim, Johnson can only afford to lose one vote if he hopes to get the bill to the Senate without any Democratic votes.
Among those opposed, seven of them are specifically worried about the bill's proposal to cut billions of dollars in support for state Medicaid programs. Even though Johnson aims to sell the bill as Republicans' opportunity to help pass Trump's legislative agenda, one Republican anonymously told Politico that they were concerned the bill would actually "undermine the basic care provided by Medicaid," and pointed to Trump's promises to not touch the program that provides health insurance for low-income residents.
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The speaker's resolution would cut roughly $2 trillion in federal spending across all agencies, though some hardline Republicans like Reps. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) have said the proposed cuts aren't steep enough. And other members of the conference are opposed to a provision in the legislation that would raise the debt ceiling.
In January, former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced that she would begin taking "extraordinary measures" to lengthen the timeline Congress has to raise the statutory debt ceiling — which is necessary in order to continue guaranteeing trillions of dollars in U.S. Treasury securities held by institutional investors around the world. But the far-right House Freedom Caucus has previously indicated that their continued support for Johnson's speakership is contingent on him not crossing "red lines," with raising the debt ceiling being one of them.
Senate Republicans are working on advancing their own budget bill through the reconciliation process, which only requires 51 votes rather than the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. But some senators have already said they'll defer to Johnson, with Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) saying that he would be willing to settle for "whatever we can get through the House."
"Some White House officials and senior House GOP aides are even quietly hoping that the added pressure of Senate action forces House Republicans to fall in line on their side of the Capitol, according to two people aware of party strategy," wrote Politico's Meredith Lee Hill. "Trump has yet to call key holdouts in order to secure their support."
Click here to read Politico's report in full.
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