House Republicans failed to pass the “one big, beautiful bill” out of the Budget Committee on Friday after leadership was unable to persuade a handful of GOP fiscal hawks displeased with the reconciliation legislation’s timelines and ambiguity over raising the state and local taxes cap.
The bill failed in a 16-21 vote, with Reps. Ralph Norman (R-SC), Chip Roy (R-TX), Josh Brecheen (R-OK), Andrew Clyde (R-GA), and Lloyd Smucker (R-PA) joining all Democrats in voting down the bill. The vote is a major blow to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and his ambitious deadline to pass the reconciliation bill by Memorial Day.
Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-TX) closed the meeting and sent everyone home. The committee announced it would reconvene on Sunday at 10 p.m. for another vote. After recessing the committee, Arrington went into a meeting with holdouts.
Norman and Roy had said from the beginning of the hearing that they would vote “no” on the bill unless substantive changes were made. Brecheen and Clyde remained noncommittal, but they both voted against the legislation after they were unable to get reassurances from leadership and the White House. Smucker was originally a “yes” vote and then changed his vote to “no.”
Smucker, the committee vice chair who introduced the bill, said in a post following the vote that he supports the reconciliation bill but switched his vote so he could call the bill up again for a vote.
“My vote today is a procedural requirement to preserve the committee’s opportunity to reconsider the motion to advance OBBB,” Smucker said.
The Freedom Caucus issued a statement shortly after the vote stating that their members (all except Smucker) who voted “no” will continue to work in “good faith” to pass the bill.
“We were making progress before the vote in the Budget Committee and will continue negotiations to further improve the reconciliation package,” the caucus said. “We are not going anywhere and we will continue to work through the weekend.”
Notably, two Freedom Caucus members — Reps. Brandon Gill (R-TX) and Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) — voted in favor of passing the reconciliation package out of committee.
The failure comes after President Donald Trump urged Republicans to unite around the bill, which would cut $1.5 trillion to offset the cost of preserving the president’s 2017 tax break. He told GOP lawmakers to fall in line.
“We don’t need ‘GRANDSTANDERS’ in the Republican Party,” Trump wrote in a post to Truth Social. “STOP TALKING, AND GET IT DONE!”
Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) told reporters ahead of the vote that the White House was working closely with House GOP to get the bill out of committee.
“We are working on some questions that Ralph and others have, and we’re going to be getting them answers as soon as we get them back from the Trump administration,” Scalise said.
Norman told reporters ahead of the vote that he thought the Budget Committee should have recessed.
“If they call for a vote now, it’s not going to end well,” the South Carolina Republican said at the time.
Arrington could only afford to lose two GOP votes and still pass the bill along party lines. Due to the slim margin, Gill returned to Capitol Hill after being absent due to paternity leave, but his attendance was not enough to surmount opposition within the committee.
Roy blasted Democrats for accusing Republicans of cutting Medicaid and giving tax breaks to billionaires, but he said he also needs to “admonish my colleagues on this side of the aisle.”
“This bill falls profoundly short,” Roy said. “It does not do what we say it does with respect to deficits.”
“We shouldn’t say that we’re doing something we’re not doing,” he added. “The fact of the matter is this bill has backloaded savings and has frontloaded spending.”
The Texas Republican said holdouts were still having conversations with leadership ahead of the vote, but unless “serious reforms are made … you’re not going to get my support.”
Democrats are taking a victory lap after the reconciliation bill failed, stating the caucus was “united.”
“House Republicans are so desperate to rip away health care and food assistance that even the largest cuts in American history aren’t enough for them,” ranking member Brendan Boyle (D-PA) said in a statement. “They want to see even more middle-class families suffer to fund trillions in tax giveaways to billionaires and big corporations. We won’t stop fighting to block this budget once and for all.”
BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL IN THE BALANCE: GOP FRACTURES OVER MEDICAID WORK REQUIREMENTS
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told reporters Thursday that he is willing to work through the weekend to find a compromise, including finding provisions for a higher SALT cap and enforcing Medicaid work requirements sooner than the proposed 2029 start date. He is still confident that Republicans will be able to meet the ambitious timeline of passing the reconciliation package before Memorial Day recess.
“I’m convinced that we’ll be able to adjust the dial, so to speak, so that we can come to an agreement that will meet the criteria that everybody has and that we can move this thing forward,” Johnson said after Thursday’s meeting with Roy and other members of the Freedom and SALT caucuses.
