Fiscal hawks warned House GOP leadership on Wednesday that a major bill being crafted in Congress to advance President Trump’s tax agenda and cut federal spending “must not add to the deficit.”
More than 30 Republicans signed onto a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) reaffirming that their support for Trump’s so-called “big, beautiful bill” being crafted in the House depends on “at minimum” the proposal’s “strict adherence” to House’s blueprint for the plan.
“Under the House’s framework, the reconciliation bill must not add to the deficit. The House budget resolution assumes that enacting President Trump’s agenda, including extending the 2017 tax cuts, will generate $2.5 trillion in additional revenue through economic growth,” they argued. “This means that all additional tax cuts or increases in spending above this level must be offset.”
The letter comes as Republicans have been working to come to agreement on key components of the legislation, including tax policy and Medicaid cuts, in recent days, as the House looks to move on the forthcoming bill by the end of the month.
Republicans are using a process known as budget reconciliation to enact the president’s tax priorities, while also making further cuts to spending and boosting funding for defense and the president’s deportation plans. While the process can be time-consuming and restrictive, it would ultimately allow Republicans to jam through such a package without having to worry about likely Democratic opposition in the Senate.
However, Republicans in both the House and Senate lay out different instructions for each chamber to craft the reconciliation bill, with different goals locked in on the cost-cutting side and the caps for tax cuts.
Fiscal hawks in the House on Wednesday said that the reconciliation bill being crafted in the House “must include at least $2 trillion in verifiable savings either through spending reductions or scaling back the size of the tax package” to extend tax cuts set to expire as part of Trump’s signature 2017 tax law.
“If savings fall short, the Ways and Means Committee’s instruction must be lowered dollar-for-dollar to keep the reconciliation bill within the agreed limits,” they wrote, referring to instructions for the tax-writing committee in the budget blueprint agreed to by House Republicans laying out rules for the process.
Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-Pa.) led the letter, which also included signatures from Reps. Andy Harris (R-Md.), Chip Roy (R-Texas) and David Schweikert (R-Ariz.).
“We just got concerned with what we’re hearing around the savings,” Smucker told reporters on Wednesday. “So, we just wanted to remind everyone that, you know, we all want to get this bill done, but there’s a framework within the budget reconciliation that we think is very important and that we intend to stick to.”
“We just want to ensure that it’s real structural savings,” Smucker said.
The Hill has reached out to leadership offices for comment.
Estimates from the Congressional Budget Office have found that extending Trump’s 2017 tax cuts could cost upwards of $4.5 trillion over the next ten years – a price tag that has only risen in projections when factoring in additional proposals from Republicans, like nixing taxes on tips and overtime pay.
Republicans have defended the tax cuts being considered in Congress as “pro-growth” and say the measures would lead to further revenue, but conservatives say further spending cuts are needed.
Mychael Schnell contributed.
