Multiple Republicans have expressed concerns about impacts on Medicaid and the federal deficit.
WASHINGTON—The U.S. House of Representatives on Feb. 25 is expected to vote on a budget blueprint for carrying out President Donald Trump’s agenda as the outcome of that vote remains uncertain.
The resolution is the first step toward passage of House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) “one big, beautiful bill” funding plan, which would wrap all of Trump’s priorities into a single massive package. It would authorize House committees to make spending cuts and offer budgetary policy proposals related to the border, defense, energy, and tax policy.
Specifically, the blueprint orders at least $1.5 trillion in spending cuts over a decade, authorizes $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, and would raise the debt ceiling by $4 trillion.
But ongoing divisions in the House GOP conference over a variety of provisions in the blueprint, including its potential impacts on Medicaid and the federal deficit, leave the outcome of that vote uncertain. Multiple Republicans have expressed opposition to the blueprint as it stands.
With Republicans currently holding just 218 seats in the lower chamber to Democrats’ 215, Johnson can spare only a single defection on the package—raising the possibility that the resolution may ultimately be pulled from the floor ahead of the vote.
Johnson and House Republican leadership have insisted that in spite of these hurdles, they expect the resolution will pass this week.
Controversy Over Medicaid, Spending Cuts
This uncertainty comes as Johnson faces backlash from multiple Republicans over a directive in the budget blueprint calling for the House Energy and Commerce Committee to find $880 billion in spending cuts. Such steep cuts would practically necessitate slashing Medicaid funding.
Democrats have already moved to accuse Republicans of planning to cut Medicaid, while Johnson and GOP leadership have insisted that any cuts to Medicaid would be the result of rooting out fraud and corruption within the program.
But several purple district Republicans are concerned by the lack of specificity, and face potential political fallout from substantial cuts to the entitlement program.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) said during a Feb. 24 appearance on Fox News that she had concerns about discussions around cutting as much as $2 trillion in spending over a decade, and was looking for “clarity” from leadership about how those cuts could be accomplished.
By Joseph Lord
