Senate GOP Presses Forward with Budget Proposal Despite Trump’s Support for Competing House Plan

WASHINGTON—The Republican Conference in the U.S. Senate intends to move forward with its own budget plan to support President Donald Trump’s policy goals, despite Trump’s rejection of the plan on February 19.

To finance several of Trump’s administrative and financial initiatives—including building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, deporting all illegal immigrants, and extending parts of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA)—new laws must be enacted by Congress to authorize the necessary funding.

The standard Senate procedure to approve such legislation necessitates 60 votes to invoke “cloture,” thus limiting debate and preventing a “filibuster” from stalling the process. Given the current Republican majority of 53 seats in the Senate, at least seven Democratic senators would need to support invoking cloture—a challenging prospect amid the ongoing partisan conflict over budget issues in Congress.

As an alternative, Republicans have opted to utilize the “budget reconciliation” process to push through these bills. Although restricted, this approach allows Congress to pass financial legislation with limited debate, bypassing the 60-vote cloture requirement.

Reconciliation bills are confined to matters of taxation, spending, and public borrowing, thereby excluding non-financial policy changes such as immigration law reforms. Additionally, they must comply with the “Byrd Rule,” meaning they cannot increase the federal budget deficit beyond a 10-year period.

To initiate the reconciliation process, both the Senate and House of Representatives must concurrently approve a “budget resolution” for the current Fiscal Year, detailing areas where spending will increase or decrease, as well as guiding committees to prepare the final bill.

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The primary disagreements among Republicans in the Senate and House pertain to the strategy for moving forward.

The Senate aims to pass two reconciliation bills this Fiscal Year, with the first focused on boosting spending for border security and the military. This strategy arises from disagreements over tax cuts, particularly regarding extending TCJA provisions.

Senate Majority Leader John Randolph Thune (R-S.D.) has expressed his intention to make tax rate cuts from the TCJA “permanent,” which could entail costs of up to $4.5 trillion. To align with the Byrd Rule, significant spending cuts will be necessary—raising concerns that critical social programs like Medicaid may be at risk, which could politically backfire for some Republicans.

“[Medicaid] is on the table,” remarked House Appropriations Committee Chairman Thomas Jeffrey “Tom” Cole (R-Okla.) to The Epoch Times during his conference’s policy retreat in Doral, Florida, on January 29.

In contrast, Republican leaders in the House have indicated that their conference can realistically only pursue one reconciliation bill, given significant disagreements over government spending levels and their narrow majority, which allows two members to defeat a bill by aligning with Democrats.

The budget resolution from the House, which moved from committee to the floor on February 13, also proposed spending levels (on border security and the military) lower than those in the Senate’s resolution, reflecting the influence of fiscal conservatives suggesting cuts in the final bill.

“For the House, the one-bill strategy makes the most sense. We have a very diverse conference,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) stated at a news conference on January 29 in Doral, Florida.

“We need both Chambers to pass the House Budget to ‘kickstart’ the reconciliation process and focus on the concept of a ‘ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL,’” Trump added.

However, Senate Republicans remain undeterred by Trump’s rejection of their approach. “If the House can produce ‘one big, beautiful bill,’ we’re ready to collaborate … but we believe the President likes having different options,” Thune explained at a press conference on February 19.

Thune had previously committed to passing the Senate’s budget resolution by February 21. To achieve this, the Senate is slated to engage in several hours of debate and votes on February 20 to pass the resolution and initiate the drafting process within their chamber. The timeline may extend as Democrats utilize ample time for debate and propose multiple amendments aiming to undermine the resolution.

If the Senate successfully passes the resolution, it is uncertain whether the House will even consider it. The House plans to vote on its own budget resolution in the coming week, as confirmed by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise’s office to The Epoch Times.

Graham’s office has not yet responded to a request for comments.