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House Republicans unveil blueprint to extend $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and lift the debt ceiling

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans released a budget plan Wednesday that sets the stage for advancing many of President Donald Trump’s top domestic priorities, providing for up to $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and a $4 trillion increase in the debt limit so the U.S. can continue financing its bills.

The budget plan also directs a variety of House committees to cut spending by at least $1.5 trillion while stating that the goal is to reduce spending by $2 trillion over 10 years.

The blueprint represents a first step in a lengthy legislative process that would allow Republicans to pass some of their top priorities in a simple majority vote. The House Budget Committee is expected to hold votes on the plan on Thursday. House Speaker Mike Johnson predicted it would easily advance out of committee.

“Then, we’ll work with everybody over the week to make sure they are on board,” Johnson said.

Johnson has set an ambitious schedule for moving the resolution and subsequent legislation, but tensions remain within the Republican conference about the scope of the proposed tax and spending cuts. Some want more in tax cuts than what is in the blueprint while others want steeper spending cuts.

“There’ll be a lot of negotiations back and forth,” Johnson said. “There’s a lot of moving parts to this, but our objective is to fulfill all the president’s campaign promises and the full agenda, so we have time to do that.”

Budget resolutions are often considered statements of priorities. But the 45-page plan is more than just a policy blueprint as it provides specific directions to House committees to rearrange the federal money flow. GOP leaders are eyeing cuts to social services, and particularly Medicaid, as they seek massive savings.

The Energy and Commerce Committee, which handles health care spending, is asked to cut $880 billion over the decade, while the Education and Workforce Committee is asked to reduce spending by $330 billion. The Agriculture Committee is asked to save $230 billion, while the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is asked to find at least $10 billion in cuts through 2034.

Even as some programs would be cut, money would be shifted to other Trump priorities, including a $100 billion boost in defense spending over the next decade through the Armed Services Committee and an additional $90 billion for the Homeland Security Department, which is carrying out Trump’s massive immigration deportation.

House Democrats were harshly critical of the budget plan.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries held a joint press conference and accused Republicans of not taking action to lower costs for everyday Americans since securing the White House and both chambers of Congress.

“Why? Their primary objective is to enact massive tax cuts for their billionaire donors and wealthy corporations,” Jeffries said. “That’s what the Republican budget is all about.”

There is also concern from Democrats that the plan could lead to cuts in the safety net. Rep. Brendan Boyle, the top Democratic on the House Budget Committee, said the tax cuts won’t pay for themselves through increased economic growth so cuts to various government programs such as Medicaid will be sought.

“Their plan blows up the deficit and sticks the middle class with the bill, whether through higher prices, deep cuts to essential programs, or both,” said the Philadelphia lawmaker.

Republicans say they don’t want to take benefits away from those who rely on Medicaid, but they are considering requiring more able-bodied Americans to work as a condition of their participation.

“If you add work requirements to Medicaid, it makes sense to people. It’s common sense,” Johnson said. “Little things like that make a big difference not only in the budgeting process but in the morale of the people. You know, work is good for you. You find dignity in work. And the people who are not doing that, we’re going to try to get their attention.”

To offset some of the cost of extending the tax cuts Republicans passed in Trump’s first term, they are also eying the possibility of ending some of the clean-energy tax credits that Democrats championed and passed under former President Joe Biden.

As House Republicans press ahead, Senate Republicans are pursuing a narrower effort focused on boosting border security and defense spending.

Republicans have been debating since last year whether to enact the bulk of Trump’s agenda in one or two pieces of legislation. The Senate is moving on a two-bill track, while the House is moving on a one-bill track. It’s unclear which side will win out in the end.

The Senate Budget Committee advanced the narrower budget plan on Wednesday in a party-line vote. It would allow $175 billion to be spent on border security, $150 billion for defense and $20 billion for the Coast Guard. Their budget would not include an extension of tax cuts, leaving that to be dealt with in a second bill later this year.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, the committee’s chair, said in selling the blueprint that a majority of Americans support deporting immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally, but that Immigration and Customs Enforcement was running out of funding. He said more agents and detention space will be needed to allow for the deportation effort.

“We don’t have time to waste,” said the South Carolina Republican. “Our country is very much at risk in multiple fashions abroad and at home.”

Republicans defeated a spate of amendments from Democrats that included taking Medicaid and the nutrition assistance program known as SNAP off the table from cuts. Sen. Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the committee, said the amendments were focused on ensuring the process underway in Congress would not raise the cost of health care and other vital services for Americans.

“Families of America, get worried,” he said as debate drew to a close.

https://apnews.com/article/house-re...x-cuts-ff2bddf31f4e7cb0928139072392a091#


I’m glad this won’t hurt any Trump supporters… maybe just the idiots. Congrats Trumpians, YOU DID THIS.

As soon as I find the actual bill, I’ll run it through AI and get the details in crayon so the MAGA can see the pain they’ve caused.

What’s in the FY2025 House Budget Resolution

he House Budget Committee introduced a budget resolution for fiscal year (FY) 2025. If approved by both the House and Senate, it will unlock a reconciliation process that enables major tax-and-spending legislation to fast-track and bypass the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster rule with a simple majority.

Republicans hope to leverage the reconciliation process this year to extend and expand on expiring tax cuts. While the reconciliation bill’s ultimate deficit impact is yet to be determined, the topline instructions allow for an up to $3.3 trillion deficit increase over 10 years.

What is a budget resolution?

A budget resolution is a document that outlines desired spending, revenue, debt, and deficit levels for the federal government over a specified period (often 10 years). It is the first step Congress is supposed to take in order to pass annual spending bills ahead of the October 1 start of the fiscal year; it also enables the reconciliation process. Under the 1974 Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act (CBA), Congress is supposed to complete action on the budget resolution by April 15, though it often fails to do so.

What is reconciliation?

Budget reconciliation is a legislative procedure established by the CBA. Reconciliation allows for expedited consideration of certain and specified changes in law to align federal spending, revenue, and the debt limit with agreed-upon budget targets. A reconciliation bill can avoid the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster threshold and provides lawmakers the chance to pass legislation with a simple majority vote. Read more about reconciliation here.

What’s in the FY2025 House budget resolution?

Title I: Recommended Levels and Amounts

This title specifies target levels for overall federal revenues, spending, deficits, and debt. It also specifies target federal spending levels across 20 major functional categories, such as national defense, health, and transportation.

The CBA requires each of these items to be included in a budget resolution.

Title II: Reconciliation

Congress is not required to include reconciliation instructions in the budget resolution, but doing so unlocks the fast-track process.

The FY2025 House budget resolution includes directives to some, but not all, of the committees in the House. This title requires committees with instructions to report back legislation achieving either a floor of deficit reduction or a ceiling of deficit increases. Committees may then propose tax-and-spending changes to the programs and policies under their legislative jurisdiction that clear their deficit reduction floor or stay under their deficit increase ceiling.

The FY2025 budget resolution’s instructions in the House are:

TABLE 1. RECONCILIATION INSTRUCTIONS MAY ALLOW FOR $3.3 TRILLION IN DEFICIT INCREASES, THOUGH THAT TOPLINE MAY BE HIGHER OR LOWER BASED ON CONGRESSIONAL ACTION

House Committee Reconciliation Instruction
(billions of dollars; negative = deficit reduction, positive = deficit increase)

Energy & Commerce -$880 B

Education & Workforce -$330 B

Agriculture -$230 B

Oversight -$50 B

Small Business -$10 B

Financial Services -$1 B

Natural Resources -$1 B

Homeland +$90 B

Armed Services +$100 B

Judiciary +$110 B

Ways & Means +$4,500 B (4.5 Trillion)

Total +$3,298 (3.3 Trillion)

Debt Limit Increase $4,000 B (4 Trillion)


A budget resolution from one chamber of Congress can include reconciliation instructions to committees in the other chamber, but does not have to. The FY2025 House budget resolution does not include Senate instructions. The topline instructions allow for up to $3.3 trillion in deficit increases. One or more committees may have overlapping instructions; if this is the case, the topline deficit increase may be more or less than $3.3 trillion.

The budget resolution appears to rely on a current law baseline. This assumes major provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) expire on December 31, 2025, as scheduled, and cost $4 trillion-plus to extend—rather than a current policy baseline that assumes TCJA provisions continue and cost $0 to extend. Learn more about budget baselines here.

Title II also instructs the Ways and Means Committee to submit legislation increasing the debt limit by $4 trillion.

The tables that accompany the budget resolution project $2.6 trillion in deficit reduction from economic growth resulting from the broader Republican agenda and $1.8 trillion in additional but unspecified discretionary savings. The extent to which dynamic scoring for TCJA extension contributes to this growth assumption is unclear, but the economic assumptions exceed the $372 billion in dynamic scoring estimated by the Joint Committee on Taxation for extending expiring individual tax provisions in TCJA. Further, the Appropriations Committee has jurisdiction over discretionary spending but is not given an instruction in this bill.

BPC has multiple resources assessing the impact of a growing national debt, including consequences for households, the economy, and national security.

Title III: Reserve Funds

Reserve funds allow the chairs of the House and Senate Budget Committees to revise targets in the budget resolution for a specified purpose. The FY2025 budget resolution includes a reserve fund allowing for reconciliation legislation, which is standard boilerplate language in budget resolutions used to unlock the reconciliation process.

The House or Senate may add reserve funds by amending the budget resolution before it advances out of each chamber. The Senate sometimes adds deficit-neutral reserve funds (DNRFs) in a “vote-a-rama” on a budget resolution (so named because there is no limit on amendments and voting can last hours). These reserve funds and DNRFs often serve as general policy statements rather than specific legislative proposals, and can be used by the minority party to compel the majority party into politically challenging votes.

Title IV: Policy Statements

The budget resolution contains two policy statements, one on economic growth and one on mandatory spending reductions.

- Economic Growth: This section states that the budget resolution seeks to pursue policies that grow the economy and “embrace the free market,” including federal spending cuts, American energy production, tax cuts, deregulation, and “eliminat[ing] barriers to work.”

- Mandatory Spending Cuts: This section states that the budget resolution seeks to cut mandatory spending by $2 trillion over 10 years. This is a larger spending cut goal than contained in the reconciliation instructions, which add up to $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction. Importantly, this section also states that the Budget Committee believes failure to hit that $2 trillion spending cut target should be offset with reductions in the Ways and Means Committee’s instruction to increase deficits by up to $4.5 trillion.

Unlike other provisions of the budget resolution, these policy statements do not legally bind the House or Senate or limit what they can do in a reconciliation bill.

Title V. Other Matters

This title contains a variety of enforcement provisions that are standard in budget resolutions that unlock the reconciliation process. These include:

- A section stating that the Budget Committee will determine changes to new spending and revenues in the budget resolution;
- A section stating that the spending, revenue, and deficit totals may be adjusted to account for changes in budgetary concepts; and
- A section stating that the spending, revenue, and deficit totals may be adjusted to account for updates in the Congressional Budget Office’s baseline.


See similar language as this title in the FY2018 House budget resolution that helped unlock reconciliation for TCJA and the FY2021 Senate budget resolution that unlocked reconciliation for the American Rescue Plan.

https://bipartisanpolicy.org/explainer/whats-in-the-fy2025-house-budget-resolution/#

So they are taking two trillion from social services and transferring that to the wealthy via tax cuts… that should help out the economy… when pigs fly. Not to mention they want to raise the deficit by 4 Trillion to boot. Congrats, you’re owning the libs now MAGA… Hope grandma doesn’t mind taking a job to stay in the nursing home. That money comes from Medicaid, not medicare.

Days like this I wish there was a constitutional requirement that only allowed deficit spending with 2/3rds majority or a Congressionally declared war.

Trump want to cut spending and raise the deficit ($4.5 T) to allow for extended or deeper tax cuts. Deficit increases.

Dems wanted deficit spending to fund economic grown, keep the taxes about the same. Deficit increase.

Neither side give a damn about deficit, just the priorities change.