House Republicans kick off budget process to ram Trump agenda through Congress

House Republicans unveiled a long-awaited budget blueprint on Wednesday that tees up $1.5 trillion in proposed spending cuts over the next decade.

It also calls for a $4 trillion hike to the debt limit and a $4.5 trillion ceiling in net costs resulting from extending and expanding upon President Trump’s first-term tax cuts.

House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington’s budget blueprint is the byproduct of weeks of planning and negotiations that have seen Republicans clash behind closed doors and in public over the depth of proposed spending cuts.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, called the blueprint a “key first step” in passing Mr. Trump’s agenda, but acknowledged there would be continuing debates and struggles in the weeks to come.

“There’s still much work to be done, but we are starting on the right path,” he said.

The budget resolution’s instructions serve as the guide that will set spending and revenue targets for a forthcoming reconciliation package of sweeping tax and spending cuts, energy policy changes and funding for border security, immigration enforcement and the national defense. It will allow Republicans to ram this agenda through Congress with party-line votes and without the threat of a filibuster by Senate Democrats.

The plan is expected to frustrate some Republicans who sought more spending cuts, but GOP leaders hope to quell any opposition that would derail the president’s agenda.

Debt hawks wanted closer to $2.5 trillion in spending cuts, especially if they also have to vote to increase the debt limit.

Mr. Arrington’s plan does try to meet hardliners in the House Freedom Caucus in the middle by laying out a “goal” to reduce federal mandatory spending by $2 trillion.

If lawmakers fall short of the mark, the budget says the House Ways and Means Committee “should” take a “commensurate” hit to its ceiling for the tax cuts.

House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith, Missouri Republican, cited the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate that permanently extending Mr. Trump’s first-term tax cuts would cost $4.6 trillion as a reason for preferring a higher ceiling. The president wants to add more tax cuts that exempt tips, overtime and Social Security benefits from income taxes, which would cost trillions more over the next decade

The blueprint, if adopted by the House and Senate, would put 11 House committees to work in fleshing out details of the budget reconciliation package. They have until March 27 to finish the package, putting the House on track to hit Mr. Johnson’s goal to pass Mr. Trump’s legislative agenda by late May.

Overall, the plan would allow for up to $4.8 trillion in tax cuts and new spending over the next decade, deficit additions that must be offset by at least $1.5 trillion but can go higher.

The budget calls for up to $300 billion in new spending, $100 billion for defense from the House Armed Services Committee and $200 billion for border security and immigration enforcement from the Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees.

The lion’s share of the $1.5 trillion floor for spending reductions over the next decade will fall on three committees. The House Energy and Commerce Committee must slash $880 billion, the House Committee on Education and Workforce will have to cut $330 million and the House Agriculture Committee will have to cut $230 billion.

The House plan is markedly different from the Senate’s, where lawmakers on the Senate Budget Committee began marking up their budget blueprint on Wednesday.

Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham’s plan strays from the House’s vision of “one big, beautiful bill,” and aims for a two-bill strategy in the budget reconciliation process.

Mr. Graham’s plan, which the Senate Budget Committee began reviewing Wednesday, would tee up a $345 billion package focused on border, defense and energy policy. Another package of tax cuts and broader spending cuts would come later in the year if the Senate gets its way.

• Lindsey McPherson contributed to this story.