WASHINGTON — House Republicans kicked off their plans for a third party-line spending bill Tuesday, releasing a budget resolution that calls for $95 billion in new money for the military and election-related measures.
With no plans to seek Democratic votes, it will be a herculean task to pass through the narrow Republican majorities, given the unpopularity of the Iran war, the lack of spending cuts to offset the new spending, which is already angering conservative hard-liners, and the limits of the budget process.
The 47-page measure is the first step in the “reconciliation” process, which allows Republicans to bypass a Senate filibuster and pass legislation without any Democratic support. The text released Wednesday includes instructions for committees on how much to spend on projects as they write the ultimate reconciliation bill.
It includes $60 billion for the Armed Services Committee, which would be put toward military spending as President Donald Trump’s Iran war escalates with no end in sight.
It includes $12 billion for the Agriculture Committee, which is set to be used for farm assistance as the industry suffers from higher food and fertilizer prices resulting from the Iran war and the inability of ships to safely pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
It would grant $10 billion for the House Administration Committee, which could be used on election-related funding as Republicans look for ways to include elements of Trump’s SAVE America Act in the party-line bill. But reconciliation bills must relate only to spending and tax issues, limiting how much of the SAVE legislation could be passed that way.
The budget resolution also includes $13 billion for the Intelligence Committee, which a Republican aide said was in response to the Trump administration’s supplemental request for classified projects. A White House spokesperson didn’t immediately reply to a request for more details.
“Reconciliation 3.0 is in process,” Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters.
The Budget Committee plans to consider the measure on Thursday morning. If it is approved, it would become eligible for consideration in the full House, where Republicans hold a majority of 218 to 212 votes. It would then go to the committees to begin writing legislation.
“On Thursday, House Republicans will unlock a third budget reconciliation to stop Democrat obstruction, support our troops, and safeguard the integrity of our elections,” Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, said in a statement. “We will use every tool and resource at our disposal to govern our great nation and deliver on behalf of the freedom-loving people who gave us unified Republican leadership.”
The panel’s top Democrat immediately slammed the measure.
“Republicans have already made life worse for American families and added trillions to the national debt. Now, this ‘America Last’ budget would add tens of billions more to the national debt to fund the most unpopular war in American history,” said Brendan Boyle, of Pennsylvania. “I’m going to fight like hell to make sure taxpayer dollars are being used to lower costs and make life better for American families, not to bankroll Trump’s giveaways to billionaires and endless wars overseas.”
Fiscal hawks aren’t happy with the bill, either.
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., criticized the budget Wednesday, calling it “$95 billion in new deficit spending, no offsets and not one provision to lower the cost of living.”
Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which advocates for spending cuts, slammed the lack of “offsets” and said the GOP plan would increase the deficit.
“With interest costs, the reconciliation bill could add more than $100 billion to the debt over the next decade,” MacGuineas said. “To require no offsets in this budget is baffling.”
If the eventual reconciliation bill passes the House, it could be amended by the Senate, where it would be subject to restrictions on what’s eligible to be included. It is the same process Republicans used to pass Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” last year and the recent ICE and Border Patrol funding bill.
