GET DAILY REPORT FREE
House Speaker Mike Johnson’s proposed $95 billion budget resolution is facing resistance from Republicans in both the House and Senate, putting its prospects in doubt, The Washington Post reports.
The plan would allocate $73 billion for Pentagon costs related to the Iran war, $12 billion in aid for American farmers and $10 billion for election-related measures aimed at advancing voting restrictions backed by President Donald Trump. Republican leaders hope to advance the measure through the budget reconciliation process, which would allow them to bypass Democratic opposition after previously using the procedure this Congress to pass tax cuts and immigration enforcement funding.
However, fiscally conservative House Republicans have objected to the proposal because it does not include spending cuts to offset the new funding, despite earlier discussions of cutting social programs to eliminate what Republicans described as fraud. Vice President JD Vance met with House Republicans in an effort to rally support, but key fiscal conservatives, including Reps. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Andrew Clyde, R-Georgia, remained unconvinced and said they still had concerns about the plan.
The proposal is also more limited than President Trump’s original request, which included $350 billion in defense funding, $20 billion in farm aid and passage of the Save America Act, which would impose stricter voting rules. Johnson hopes to pass the budget resolution in the House before lawmakers leave next week and have the Senate approve it before the August recess so Republicans can begin drafting a broader reconciliation package.
However, even if the House passes the measure, several Republican senators have questioned whether a third reconciliation bill can advance in the Senate, with some expressing opposition to the process or skepticism that the legislation can secure enough support.
