Speaker Johnson aims for Tuesday budget vote amid GOP holdouts

House Speaker Mike Johnson is hoping to proceed with a scheduled Tuesday evening vote on a GOP budget resolution needed to begin moving President Trump’s agenda through Congress, despite more than a half a dozen Republicans uncommitted to supporting the plan. 

The Louisiana Republican acknowledged the vote could be delayed as leaders continue to work to sway the holdouts. 

“There may be a vote tonight, there may not be,” he said. “Stay tuned.” 

Mr. Johnson can typically afford only one GOP defection with his thin majority, given the united Democratic opposition, but Democratic absences on Tuesday provided him with wiggle room for up to two more.

GOP Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Victoria Spartz of Indiana, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Warren Davidson of Ohio and Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey are among those who were either firmly opposed or leaning against the budget resolution, while others like Reps. David Valadao of California, Rob Bresnahan of Pennsylvania and Juan Ciscomani of Arizona said they were undecided. This is the first step in the reconciliation process Republicans are using to advance their agenda without the threat of a Democratic filibuster in the Senate.  

Republican leaders spent the conference’s weekly Tuesday meeting urging members to back the plan, but several members left the closed-door confab unconvinced. Mr. Johnson followed that up with private chats, and Mr. Trump spoke to some of the holdouts as well.

“The president’s talked to a number of members, and he’s made his intentions well known and he wants them to vote for this and move it along,” the speaker said.

The budget plan passed its first hurdle Tuesday afternoon before the vote with all Republicans voting in favor of a procedural rule setting parameters for its debate.

One Republican, Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas, and four Democrats — Reps. Frederica Wilson of Texas, Raúl Grijalva of Arizona, Brittany Pettersen of Colorado and Kevin Mullin of California — were absent from the test vote. Mr. Johnson can afford two defections if all those absences hold, but if Mr. Crenshaw shows up and the Democrats do not, he can afford three.

Democratic leaders were working to see if they could get some of the absent members to show up for the final vote to ensure their party’s absences do not help Republicans push the budget over the finish line.

“We have people with medical conditions, and we’re doing the best we can to make sure we have as many members here as possible,” House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark told The Washington Times.

Some of the GOP holdouts were more firm in their opposition than others, with Mr. Massie and Ms. Spartz having the least flexibility.  

They said the tax and spending plans laid out in the budget would add to the deficit when Republicans should be reducing it — or at least doing no more harm.

“We’re increasing the deficit this year by over $300 billion and next year as well,” Mr. Massie said. “The only way this is better than the baseline is if you wait 10 years and imagine we don’t increase discretionary spending by more than the rate of inflation, and that we have 2.8% growth every year. It’s like magic fairy dust.”

Mr. Massie said he would prefer the budget have more spending cuts to offset the projected cost of tax cuts Republicans plan to pursue so the blueprint is at least deficit neutral. 

The budget resolution calls for a minimum of $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, but after accounting for those — or even a higher level of spending cuts, as Republicans hope to reach at least $2 trillion — it would still allow the tax cuts to net $2.5 trillion to the deficit.

While he refused to rule out any scenario in which he could be swayed, Mr. Massie said, “I don’t know how I can get to yes.”

Ms. Spartz, likewise, said she’s against the budget as written and would be open to supporting it with higher spending cuts, but leadership appears unwilling to consider such a change. 

“They want to talk about governing, but they do not want to govern,” she said. “They don’t really have the courage to govern. And they’re afraid, not of the people, but of the money here [in Washington].”

However, Mr. Johnson shut down any last-minute tweaks to the plan.

“No,” he said. “We’re moving forward.”

Mr. Burchett appeared more flexible with his opposition, saying he wanted more commitments on spending reductions, specifically at the Pentagon.

“All the money we’re saving on DOGE we just throw over to the war pimps at the Pentagon,” he said. “That’s not any savings.” 
Mr. Burchett spoke with Mr. Trump but was coy on the details, contending that if he shared what happened “that’s how you don’t have any more conversations with the president.”

Mr. Massie and Mr. Davidson said they had not received calls from Mr. Trump as of 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, when they emerged from a huddle with Mr. Johnson.

They were both mum about their conversation with the speaker but Mr. Davidson said earlier Tuesday that he wanted reassurances baked into the measure on how Republicans would pursue deeper spending cuts ahead of the March 14 deadline to fund the government. 

That deadline is for Congress to approve discretionary spending for the remainder of fiscal 2025 and doesn’t have any bearing on reconciliation legislation. Only mandatory spending can be adjusted through the reconciliation process, but broader nonbinding budget projections in the resolution also account for projections on discretionary spending to paint a full 10-year picture. 

“I want a plan that when you put the whole spending together, it actually spends less money,” Mr. Davidson said. “We’re seeing part of the plan with the budget resolution. We’re not seeing the whole plan.”

Mr. Johnson rejected the deficit hawks’ criticisms during a press conference Tuesday morning, saying Republicans “can’t do it all at once” when it comes to cutting into the nation’s $36 trillion debt, but his objective “has always been deficit neutrality.” 

GOP leaders are assuming economic growth from taxes they cut and government regulations they repeal will ultimately make up for any differences between their tax and spending cuts.

“We’re going to take a big bite out of that,” Mr. Johnson said of the deficit. “We’re going to make a big course correction in this process.” 

Another sticking point for some Republicans is the prospect of steep cuts to Medicaid. The budget instructs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over the government health care program for millions of low-income Americans, to find at least $880 billion in spending cuts. Members of the panel acknowledge Medicaid reforms will have to be part of the spending cuts if they hope to reach that number.

Mr. Van Drew said said he spoke to Mr. Trump three times over the past two days about his concerns about cutting Medicaid.

“The president is on the same page as I am,” he said. “He does not want to hurt people that are on Medicaid. Now, waste, fraud and abuse, yes. We all want to get rid of that.”

Mr. Van Drew said on Monday that he could not vote for the budget unless the $880 billion target is lowered or Mr. Trump personally assures him it will be later in the process. The Senate still has to approve an identical budget, and Republicans there have floated the idea of tweaking the House plan.

While Mr. Van Drew said Mr. Trump did not directly ask for his vote in their conversations on Tuesday, “he has expressed optimism for the Senate version of this.”

“I’m definitely not saying I’m voting for it yet, though, but I hate when you’re voting for a damn bill because you know somebody else is going to make it better,” Mr. Van Drew said.

Mr. Johnson and his leadership team vowed in the Republicans’ closed-door meeting that Medicaid would not be touched, but some lawmakers were wondering how exactly the Energy and Commerce panel could get where it wants to go without it. 

“I just felt like I was being lied to,” a House Republican told The Times. 

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Louisiana Republican, blamed Democrats for false messaging that the GOP budget would cut Medicaid. 

“There is no [mention of] Medicaid in this bill,” he said. “There are no Medicaid cuts in this bill.”

Mr. Ciscomani, Arizona Republican, said he needs more assurances beyond the fact that the word Medicaid is not in the budget about plans for the reconciliation legislation. He said he’s explained to leadership the impact potential Medicaid cuts would have on his district. 

“They’ve been very accommodating to the conversations that I’ve been asking to have,” he said, noting he has met with Mr. Johnson twice and has other meetings planned for Tuesday, including a sophomore class meeting with Mr. Trump. “I feel like we’re in a better place.”