House GOP unveils $2 trillion in proposed spending cuts
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House Speaker Mike Johnson during a news conference on Feb. 11 in Washington. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
The House Budget Committee released a budget blueprint Wednesday proposing $2 trillion in spending cuts.
Why it matters: The House is going bigger and bolder than the Senate with its proposed budget resolution to implement President Trump's legislative agenda — but they're also a step behind.
- The blueprint follows days of stalled negotiations between GOP hard-liners and leadership over how deep spending cuts should go. The budget panel is set to vote on it Thursday.
- The draft dropped as the Senate Budget Committee convened to vote on its own narrower bill on the border, energy and defense.
Driving the news: The blueprint calls for at least $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and a $4 trillion debt limit increase.
- Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) called the proposal "a key step to start the process in delivering President Trump's America First agenda."
- "This resolution reflects our collective commitment to enacting the President's full agenda—not just a part of it," Johnson wrote Wednesday on X.
- "There's still much work to be done, but we are starting on the right path."
State of play: House Republicans have been facing pressure to finalize a budget resolution, setting up a de facto game of chicken between the two chambers.
- Senate Republicans want two bills — an initial one addressing border security, energy and defense, and another addressing tax cuts.
- But their House counterparts prefer one bill, resulting in an escalating standoff.
- Johnson said Tuesday he would not bring Senate Budget Chair Lindsey Graham's version of a budget reconciliation bill to the House floor.
Zoom out: Graham, meanwhile, contends that the White House prefers the narrower approach he's embraced.
- Two Trump officials urged GOP senators Tuesday to fast-track $175 billion in new border money, Axios' Stef Kight reported.
- "The best evidence yet of where the White House is is that briefing we had," Graham told reporters Tuesday. "Why would they come over ... begging for money if they didn't want to move?"
- "I'm just asking the House to listen to these guys," he added.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect that Mike Johnson is a Republican (not a Democrat) and updated with additional reporting.
