The House cleared the Senate-amended budget framework after Freedom Caucus holdouts said they got the necessary guarantees that the Senate will pursue higher spending cuts.
The resolution passed 216-214, with Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., joining Democrats to vote against the measure.
Passage of the resolution unlocks the budget reconciliation process that Republicans want to use to enact President Donald Trump's legislative priorities, extend expiring provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and potentially increase funding for farm bill commodity programs and crop insurance.
But the resolution contains vastly different instructions to House and Senate committees when it comes to spending cuts. The House Ag Committee is required to find $230 billion over 10 years, while the Senate Ag Committee can cut as little as $1 billion. The cuts would come from projected spending for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
The Senate adopted the amended version of the House budget resolution last week.
In the budget resolution, the House committee instructions require a total of $1.5 trillion in cuts, while the Senate instructions only detail $4 billion. Members of the House Freedom Caucus threatened to vote against the measure, and huddled with GOP leadership late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning.
Following the vote, some hardline conservatives said they ultimately supported the measure after securing commitments from the White House, Senate and House on “significant” spending cuts.
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said the House Freedom Caucus received “strong confirmations” about the level of cuts and how to achieve those through reforms to the Inflation Reduction Act and Medicaid. Additionally, he said the House leadership committed to maintaining the House bill framework and guaranteeing connectivity between spending and taxes.
“We have now three strong statements from the speaker, the president and the Senate majority leader,” Roy said. “We did not have those 48 hours ago. We do now. Now that is a step, which is just the beginning.”
At a joint appearance with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., ahead of the House vote, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., briefly addressed the $1.5 trillion target.
“Our ambition in the Senate is we are aligned with the House in terms of what their budget resolution outlined in terms of savings. The speaker has talked about $1.5 trillion," Thune said.
"We have a lot of Untied States senators who believe that is a minimum, and 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 responsible but also deficit reduction, which is critical to a lot of members in the Senate and I know to his members in the House," Thune said.
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But cuts of that size will be hard for many moderate Republicans in both chambers to swallow.
Rep. Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican on the House Agriculture Committee, said he still expected the cuts to ultimately total less than $1.5 trillion.
"I don’t think it’s going to be [$1.5 trillion] when it’s all said and done," Bacon told Agri-Pulse.
But members of the Freedom Caucus and House Budget Committee Republicans said they are still committed to making the 2017 tax cuts permanent as well and that it will be essential to reach the $1.5 trillion in cuts to pay for this. Members also said they assume a level of growth tied to the tax cuts that will help offset the full cost of the extension.
While passing the resolution was another significant milestone for Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., it is just the beginning. Now the House and Senate will start the reconciliation process, where they will have to come to an agreement on specific spending cut policies.
Some more moderate House Republicans expressed frustration with their Freedom Caucus colleagues for delaying the resolution vote.
“There was no need to do this,” said Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J. “We are getting tired. I am a conservative … it doesn’t mean we have to behave that way.”
Van Drew said Republicans need to be mindful of the upcoming midterm elections, and the position the reconciliation debate could put more vulnerable members in.
“Don’t screw us in the reconciliation, because if we get screwed, we are not voting for it,” Van Drew said.
Specifically, Van Drew and other moderate Republicans in both chambers are anxious about possible cuts to Medicaid. Instructions to the House Energy and Commerce Committee include $880 billion in cuts, which are largely expected to come from the Medicaid program. Rural health advocates have warned cuts would have a disproportionate impact on rural communities and hospitals.
Van Drew did detail some Medicaid policy changes he could be on board with, including adding work requirements and ensuring participants are still eligible every six months rather than every year. He also said there should be some guardrails on future Medicaid expansion.
“I am not going to support cuts that affect low-income families, disabled individuals, low-income seniors, rural hospitals," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, after the budget resolution passage. "I am open to a work requirement for able bodied individuals who do not have preschool and children."
Some members of the House Freedom Caucus have also pushed for repealing parts of the Inflation Reduction Act. Members of the Iowa delegation have been vocal about ensuring those cuts don't include the 45Z tax credit for clean fuel producers.
Following the vote, Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, said he's "highly confident" that 45Z is safe as the reconciliation talks continue.
"I feel like this is not only a commitment from leadership, this is the only way forward," Nunn said. "The leadership team needs to be on board with moving this out."
Oliver Ward contributed to this report.
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