House Budget Plan Could Put Medicare at Risk

Republican Representative Nicole Malliotakis of New York talks about she wants to see come out of the sweeping GOP tax and spending resolution headed to the House floor this week.

ouse Republicans aim to adopt a framework for their tax and spending plans this week, amid pressure from the Senate and both flanks of their own conference.

Moderates may be wary of the plan’s proposal for roughly $2 trillion in spending cuts. Conservatives have largely been supportive so far, though there are some vocal skeptics. Democrats are champing at the bit to spotlight potential threats to Medicaid and nutrition assistance. Plus, senators have rushed ahead with their own plan, unwilling to wait for the big, slow House plan to come to fruition.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is surrounded by obstacles. But somehow, it’s gone pretty well so far for GOP leaders. Republicans on the House Budget Committee stuck together on a 21-16 vote earlier this month, as hard-line conservatives including Reps. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) and Chip Roy (R-Texas) backed the framework.

The House plan is bigger and slower than a rival Senate proposal. House Republicans want one single package to include roughly $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, $2 trillion in spending cuts, a $4 trillion debt limit increase, a $200 billion boost in border and immigration spending, and $100 billion in extra defense funds.

Senators advanced a budget resolution Friday setting the stage for a bill to boost border and immigration funds by $175 billion and defense programs by $150 billion.

The Rules Committee will consider the House’s budget resolution today. That committee’s vote should go smoothly, since Norman and Roy are two pivotal conservatives on the panel who have already backed the resolution.

Johnson also won’t have to worry about the House Freedom Caucus, frequently a thorn in his side on pivotal votes such as the budget resolution. Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) told reporters last week they “declare victory,” and he didn’t expect any of the group’s members to oppose the framework.

But other hard-line conservatives not affiliated with the Freedom Caucus could pose problems when the resolution moves to the floor. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) was a vocal holdout before House members left for a week-long recess. Other potential opponents include Reps. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.).

Moderates could also be turned off by the GOP’s increasingly ambitious plans to slash spending. Democrats have largely focused on an argument that Republicans aim to chop taxes for the rich, while cutting Medicaid and nutrition assistance. In the Senate, those arguments didn’t halt progress on a budget resolution. But some vulnerable Republicans did support the Democratic proposals that called for health and nutrition protections — measures that ultimately failed.

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