Mike Johnson boxed in by House GOP defectors on "big, beautiful bill"
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The list of no's is growing for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), and time isn't on his side.
Why it matters: Flipping votes on a budget resolution isn't impossible, but it could force Johnson to delay bringing it to the floor.
- ⏰ That would further undermine the House's effort to get "one big, beautiful bill" over to the Senate by the end of April.
- 💥 Two current public "no" votes, Reps. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) and Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.), say the spending cuts aren't enough.
- 🙉 At least one other Republican is a private "no" vote, Burchett told reporters Monday evening.
Johnson and his leadership team are projecting public confidence they will be able to pass the resolution Tuesday evening.
- "There's a couple of folks who just have lingering questions," Johnson told reporters Monday, "but I think all those questions can be answered and we'll be able to move forward."
- "We'll see," Johnson told reporters when asked if the vote is still on for Tuesday night. "But it'll happen this week."
🚨Johnson says he won't negotiate ahead of a vote, including with moderates who are concerned by Medicaid cuts.
- "Everybody needs to understand that the resolution is merely the starting point for the process," Johnson said Monday, per Politico.
The big picture: Johnson sided with his most conservative lawmakers in building this budget package. Now they're threatening to leave him hanging.
- "If the Republican budget passes, the deficit gets worse, not better," Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) posted on X.
Zoom in: Johnson is trying to fuse together 218 votes with the unusual combination of a huge debt limit increase, deep spending cuts and Trump's wish list on tax cuts.
- Johnson has freaked out his moderates with the depth of the spending cut targets, which will be hard to hit without cuts to Medicaid and nutrition programs.
- That's for naught if conservatives tank the bill first.
Zoom out: Some senior Republicans remained optimistic that the current framework — which will also add up to $4.5 trillion in tax breaks if Congress cuts $2 trillion in spending — will eventually find enough votes for passage.
- "It's going to reduce the debt to GDP ratio," Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) told reporters. "It's important to me and important to our president."
- "I don't expect it to change," he said. "I feel like we landed at a really good place."
- "We're going to be fine," Arrington told Axios.
