House Leaders Eye Late February for Budget Blueprint
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House Republican leaders recently outlined a timeline for kicking off the procedures for passing budget legislation meant to reflect President Donald Trump’s long list of policy priorities.
At a caucus retreat in Florida, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) pointed to the end of February as the likely target for the chamber to be equipped with a budget blueprint resolution specific to Trump’s agenda. This resolution, once approved, will be used to inform the policy committees’ framework for arriving at a final budget plan.
Republican leaders said their aim is for the budget blueprint’s final version — known procedurally as a reconciliation bill — to advance the White House’s position about border security, military readiness, the social safety net, domestic energy and extending the 2017 Trump-era tax cuts. Johnson and his leadership team aim to wrap up this budget process within the president’s first 100 days.
“We’re exactly where we are supposed to be on our timetable. This is all pre-planned. And it’s coming together very well,” Johnson said Jan. 29 from the Trump National Doral Miami. “This process can be complex. And it’s not a simple task. What we’re aiming to do really is historic.”
“We’re all working together. We’re going to deliver on these promises through that [budget] reconciliation package,” Johnson added, as he referred to the upcoming budget plan as “consequential” and designed to “fix everything” at the federal level.
Emmer
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), central to the budget resolution’s prospects in the chamber, explained its purpose: “This will unlock the opportunity for committees to begin drafting legislation. And that’s where the real work will begin.”
Senate Republican leaders said they intend to proceed with their concurrent budget process as early as February. The Republican-led House and Senate Budget committees have yet to schedule a legislative markup on these resolutions.
Thune
“Every spending fight that we have, Democrats want to spend more, Republicans want to spend less. And because of the rules in the Senate, which require 60 votes and some Democrats to get anything done, it’s harder to squeeze spending,” Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told Fox News in January. “But I think we have, as you point out, a unique opportunity here. We have the House, Senate, and White House and unified control of the government. We can use [budget] reconciliation to do some of these things.”
At the White House, press secretary Karoline Leavitt emphasized Trump’s role specific to the reconciliation process. Addressing reporters Jan. 29, she explained: “The president is committed to both tax cuts and spending cuts.”
“And he has a great team negotiating on his behalf, but there’s no better negotiator than Donald Trump, and I’m sure he’ll be involved in this reconciliation process as it moves forward,” Leavitt added.
Larsen
Senior Democrats on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, led by ranking member Rick Larsen (D-Wash.), have expressed concern about the administration’s nascent policy agenda. In a letter to recently-confirmed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Jan. 29, the Democrats urged the White House to avoid disrupting established infrastructure funding mechanisms.
“Project sponsors, particularly those who have already been awarded grants, deserve to know which grants and policies you intend to target, eliminate or change; the timeline for grant award reviews; and your desired changes to rules and requirements,” Larsen wrote, joined by Reps. Emilia Sykes of Ohio, Eleanor Holmes Norton of Washington, D.C., and fellow Democrats. “Ultimately, Congress has a strong say in whether the new rules and requirements the president prefers, and the process by which the administration tries to impose them, withstand scrutiny and can proceed. Expect a full review of U.S. [Department of Transportation’s] actions and proposals by this committee as this process unfolds.”
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