Johnson faces fraught week as House takes up Trump budget blueprint
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is walking into a storm this week as he looks to rally House Republicans around the Senate-passed framework to unlock President Trump’s legislative agenda.
A handful of conservatives have explicitly said they plan to vote against the Senate’s budget resolution, which sets up Trump's legislative agenda of tax cuts, border funding and energy policy. Scores of others in the conference — including the House’s top Budget writer — have also criticized the legislation.
That creates an uphill battle for Johnson, who wants the GOP’s razor-thin majority to adopt the budget resolution this week to keep pace with his ambitious timeline for enacting Trump’s agenda — and to appease the president, who has endorsed the framework. With Democrats expected to oppose the measure in unison, Johnson can only afford to lose three GOP votes, assuming full attendance.
The Speaker did notch in a win over the weekend in getting Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) to stand down on her push to institute proxy voting for new parents. In lieu of a vote on proxy voting, the pair struck a deal to formalize “vote pairing” in the House, which would cancel out new mothers’ absences during key votes. The agreement is expected to re-open the floor.
Also this week, the Senate is scheduled to vote on more nominees to continue filling out Trump’s cabinet.
Johnson looks to muscle budget blueprint through House
Johnson is staring down the arduous task of uniting his conference around the Senate’s budget resolution.
Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Lloyd Smucker (R-Pa.) — both members of the House Budget Committee — informed GOP lawmakers during a call Sunday afternoon that they will oppose the budget resolution, a source told The Hill, joining Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), who called the framework “junk.”
A large number of other House Republicans have hammered away at the legislation. Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), another Budget Committee member, said the resolution is “DEAD ON ARRIVAL” for “many” members in the conservative........
© The Hill
