WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Republicans on the House Budget Committee advanced a Thursday for the Iran war, farm aid and push for strict new voter ID requirements, moving forward on a party-line vote despite trouble in the full House 鈥� and the Senate.
Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington framed the proposal as one last push to deliver for voters ahead of the midterm elections that will determine control of Congress. It advanced on a vote of 20-14.
“We are rallying to finish what we started when the American people sent us here,鈥� said Arrington, R-Texas.
With Iran war funding makes up the bulk of the package, some $60 billion, Arrington acknowledged that people can debate 鈥渨hy we’re there鈥� in the overseas conflict. But he said the money is needed for basic supplies 鈥� “just the bombs, bullets and battlefield readiness for our men and women in uniform to finish the fight successfully and return home safely 鈥� that鈥檚 it.”
The resolution, which sets out instructions for the various congressional committees to draw up proposals, also calls for $13 billion for Intelligence, $12 billion for Agriculture, and $10 billion for Administration, which handles voting and elections.
Speaker Johnson goes it alone, trying to push past Democrats
The proposal is the third budget reconciliation package Republicans in control of Congress have put forward this session to steamroll Trump’s priorities past Democratic objections using a legislative procedure that allows for simple majority votes for passage.
It’s the same process used to pass last year and to advance Homeland Security money after Democrats following the protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions earlier this year.
Johnson is pushing the effort almost single-handedly, without full backing from his slim House Republican majority or the Senate. He held lengthy meetings with Trump this week at the White House and hosted a private session for Republicans at the president’s Camp David retreat to hash out details.
But the 47-page package remains a long-shot effort 鈥� too meager for some, too costly for others 鈥� ahead of voting in the full House expected next week.
Key Republican Rep. Chip Roy, an influential member of the Freedom Caucus who has expressed reservations about the package, did not vote at the Budget Committee session, as his home state of Texas deals with flooding.
Democrats argue Americans are paying for Trump’s plans
Democrats are ready to vote against the proposal, as they did Thursday during committee action.
Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, the ranking Democrat on the Budget Committee, said the document, some 6,500 words, never once mentions the issue that’s top of mind for many Americans: affordability.
鈥淧eople know this is a failed presidency, and a failed Republican majority,鈥� Boyle said.
Democrats offered more than a dozen amendments to the package during the hourslong Budget Committee session and raised questions about how the new spending will ultimately be paid for 鈥� either via budget cuts to other programs or by piling onto the nation’s debt.
Boyle offered an amendment to reverse healthcare cuts from the Republicans’ big tax breaks bill. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., sought to reinstate funding for food stamps under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., suggested funding for immigration enforcement at Department of Homeland Security could be used to offset costs elsewhere.
Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, blamed the high costs of living on the Iran war and said every time Americans open their refrigerators or go to the gas pump they are 鈥減aying for a war that should never have been started.鈥�
Senate pans House plan, leaving next steps uncertain
Next steps are highly volatile, as the House holds a rare Saturday pro forma session, which is a largely administrative meeting that will allow the resolution to be filed in time for consideration next week.
Johnson can only lose a few detractors on his side of the aisle as he relies on Republicans only, without Democrats, for passage.
But the resolution would also have to be agreed on by the Senate, and Republican senators have largely panned the House effort, waiting to see if Johnson can heave it to passage.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said senators have 鈥渁 lot of questions鈥� about it 鈥� from defense hawks concerned about the military to deficit hawks who want to offset costs.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a very uneven path,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檒l see what the House can execute on,鈥� he said, but 鈥淚 can鈥檛 make any guarantees over here.鈥�
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., who is expected to take over the Senate Budget Committee after the sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, has been a leading budget hawk concerned about the nation’s rising deficits.
The House plans to have its committees work on bill text over the August recess and bring the whole package back to the floor for a final vote in the fall.
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Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.
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