WASHINGTON — The GOP-led House Budget Committee voted to reject a sweeping package for President Donald Trump’s agenda on Friday, dealing an embarrassing setback to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Republican leaders.
The vote in the Budget Committee was 16-21, with a band of conservative hard-liners who are pushing for steeper spending cuts joining all Democrats in voting against the multitrillion-dollar legislation, leaving its fate uncertain.
The Republicans who voted “no” were Reps. Chip Roy of Texas, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Andrew Clyde of Georgia, and Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma. Rep. Lloyd Smucker of Pennsylvania changed his vote from “yes” to “no,” he said, as a procedural move to allow Republicans to call the bill up again.
During the hearing, Roy fired a warning shot at Republican leaders, saying he opposes the bill as written because it will increase the deficit.
“I have to now admonish my colleagues on this side of the aisle. This bill falls profoundly short. It does not do what we say it does with respect to deficits,” Roy said. “That’s the truth. Deficits will go up in the first half of the 10-year budget window and we all know it’s true. And we shouldn’t do that. We shouldn’t say that we’re doing something we’re not doing.”
“This bill has back-loaded savings and has front-loaded spending,” Roy added. “I am a no on this bill unless serious reforms are made today, tomorrow, Sunday. Something needs to change or you’re not gonna get my support.”
After the vote tally was read, Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, the committee chair, adjourned the hearing and told members they would not be meeting again this weekend.
“It’s like the last day of third grade. We get to go home,” Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., quipped after the hearing.
But he predicted the bill would eventually pass. “It has to pass,” Grothman said.
Negotiations with the GOP holdouts will continue in the coming days and Republicans on the panel will try to regroup as soon as Monday, Arrington said.
Friday’s delay means that it will now be more difficult for Johnson to meet his self-imposed Memorial Day deadline to pass what Trump has called his “big, beautiful bill” and send it to the Senate.
In a post on X, the Freedom Caucus said its members will work though the weekend to reach a deal to pass the package.
“Reps. Roy, Norman, Brecheen, Clyde and others continue to work in good faith to enact the President’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ — we were making progress before the vote in the Budget Committee and will continue negotiations to further improve the reconciliation package,” the post from the Freedom Caucus’ account said. “We are not going anywhere and we will continue to work through the weekend.”
The failed vote came just hours after Trump took to Truth Social to admonish GOP “grandstanders” and urge Republicans to get behind the bill.
“Republicans MUST UNITE behind, ‘THE ONE, BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL!’” Trump wrote.
“We don’t need ‘GRANDSTANDERS’ in the Republican Party. STOP TALKING, AND GET IT DONE!” he added
Republican leaders concede the massive bill isn’t ready for prime time, and that critical changes will need to be made in the coming days to tax and Medicaid provisions to win over the recalcitrant members.
Earlier, in an office near the hearing, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., huddled privately with some of the Freedom Caucus holdouts on the Budget panel — Norman, Roy, Clyde and Brecheen. Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., who is not on the panel, also joined them.
Across the aisle, Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., previewed the Republican divisions at the outset of the hearing, vowing that all Democrats would oppose it.
“You will hear over the course of this hearing a vigorous debate. And frankly there is a strong divide between Republicans and some other Republicans. There is also a divide between both sets of Republicans and this side of the dais,” said Boyle, the top Democrat on the Budget panel. “I can speak at least as to why it is every Democratic member will be voting no on the bill for billionaires.”
