(AFP) – US President Donald Trump’s hardline agenda on everything from immigration to tax reform faced a key reality test in Congress on Tuesday, where Republicans have an ultra-thin majority and are struggling to agree on a budget. Members of the House of Representatives are to vote on a resolution that would set the blueprint for the 2025 federal government budget, with more than $1.5 trillion in spending reductions and $4.5 trillion in extended tax cuts over a decade on the docket.
Republican Speaker Mike Johnson, a key Trump ally, has been working to corral his party’s lawmakers to back the bill, which Democrats say will result in deep cuts to the Medicaid program that many lower-income US families rely on. Johnson has been pressured by his own party, too, and on Tuesday hinted that the vote may get pushed back. The speaker said Republicans were “very, very close” to a deal. Lawmakers have opened the debate on the resolution, which those in favor argue is needed to fund Trump’s agenda.
Some Republicans suggest the proposed cuts do not go deep enough, while others are focused on stopping the ever-growing US national debt or are worried about Medicaid cuts. Republicans across the country faced opposition to the resolution in their constituencies last week, US media reported, with most protests focusing on cuts to social welfare programs. Trump’s party has only a 218-215 cushion over the Democrats in the House, meaning it can afford only one defection, assuming all the opposition members vote against. On Monday, Johnson conceded that he would likely need to find help from across the aisle.
Looming over Tuesday’s debate is the March 14 deadline for Congress to agree on a budget proposal outline or face a US government shutdown. For Democrats, this is a test of their willingness to play hardball. “Let me be clear, House Democrats will not provide a single vote to this reckless Republican budget. Not one,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. One of the Democratic demands is an assurance that funding approved by Congress is actually spent — rather than being chopped by Trump’s billionaire adviser Elon Musk, whose so-called Department of Government Efficiency is seeking to slash the entire US budget. Republicans have shown no willingness to limit Trump’s power, with some even seeking to codify Musk’s cuts.
On Tuesday, Senate majority leader John Thune addressed the possibility the impasse could lead to another government shutdown. “We’re keeping all options on the table,” he said. “But we are running out of time.”
Ultimately, the debate boils down to where the more than $1.5 trillion in spending cuts that will fund Trump’s extended tax credits — which he put in place in his first term, and which expire at the end of the year — and programs will come from. With the resolution in its current form, Republicans appear set to make huge cuts to Medicaid and other social safety net programs, including food stamps, if they want to extend the tax cuts. Such a move would weaken Republican lawmakers in politically vulnerable districts for the midterm elections, due in two years.
Johnson has suggested factoring Musk’s spending cuts and revenue earned from Trump’s rash of trade tariffs into the budget to address the deficit. “We have new revenue inputs that really ought to be factored into this,” he said at a forum on Monday. Last week, the Senate — where Republicans hold a slim majority — passed a competing budget blueprint that does not include tax cuts, with leaders saying they would vote on those separately. Trump, however, has pushed for “one big beautiful bill” to come from the House. On Tuesday, he appeared to soften that stance, saying he was “not involved” in the effort to wrangle votes for the House resolution.
“The house has a bill and the Senate has a bill, and I’m looking at them both, and I’ll make decisions, but I don’t know where they are in the vote,” said Trump.
– Asad HASHIM
© 2024 AFP
