House GOP Hardliners Cave, Unlocking Process To Make Sweeping Medicaid Cuts 

UNITED STATES - APRIL 10: Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., left, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S. Dak., hold a news conference on passing the budget resolution in the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, Apr... UNITED STATES - APRIL 10: Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., left, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S. Dak., hold a news conference on passing the budget resolution in the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, April 10, 2025. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) MORE LESS
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After two days of back and forth that involved House Republican leadership delaying a vote on the Senate-approved budget resolution, Republicans’ “one, big beautiful” budget blueprint passed the House in a 216-214 vote Thursday morning, unlocking the reconciliation process.

Only two House Republicans — Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Victoria Spartz (R-IN) — broke with their conference and voted against the blueprint, which they say does not go far enough in enacting the sweeping cuts they have been calling for and will actually increase the deficit. 

The rest of the more than a dozen hardliners who initially opposed the blueprint came on board after House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) publicly promised early Thursday morning that Republicans will find ways to reduce the deficit by at least $1.5 trillion during the reconciliation process.

Johnson said Republicans are “committed to finding at least $1.5 trillion in savings for the American people while also preserving our essential programs,” adding that they will “aim much higher” than just the $1.5 trillion. Johnson indicated Medicaid is one of those “essential programs” that will be preserved, but major Medicaid cuts are baked into the budget resolution’s requirements. 

“Our ambition in the Senate is we are aligned with the House in terms of what their budget resolution outlined in terms of savings. The speaker has talked about $1.5 trillion, we have a lot of United States senators who believe that is a minimum,” Thune added.

Now congressional Republicans will begin the reconciliation process where they will have to finalize where those cuts will come from, while also aiming for an extension of the 2017 Trump tax cuts and other fiscal priorities for the Trump administration.

Despite successfully corralling the caucus, House Republican leadership faced a lot of obstacles getting there.

A group of conservative holdouts brought leadership’s plan to pass the Senate-approved budget resolution to a standstill earlier this week.

On Wednesday, scheduled votes started a little past 6 p.m. ET, with the third vote expected to be on the budget resolution. The first two went as planned. But Republican leadership kept the second vote open for almost an hour and half as Johnson pulled more than a dozen holdouts off the floor reportedly to try to convince them to support the measure. In the end, despite Johnson and Trump’s pressure campaign, Johnson wasn’t able to whip enough votes, and leadership punted the vote to Thursday morning.

House Democrats stood united against the Republican resolution during the Thursday vote.

Democrats have been pushing back on the resolution and its outlined cuts to popular social safety net programs like Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). They have also sounded the alarm on the “budget gimmick” Senate Republicans are indicating they will use to make portions of the 2017 Trump tax cuts permanent. Democrats say the attempt to mess with the cost estimates to zero out the more than $5 trillion cost of extending those tax cuts will be detrimental to the country’s economy.

 A large block of fiscal hawks — including House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-MD), Reps. Chip Roy (R-TX), Scott Perry (R-PA),Tim Burchett (R-TN), Andy Ogles (R-TN.), Massie and others — publicly opposed the so-called compromise budget resolution in the days leading up to the vote.

The hardliners in question wanted huge reductions in federal spending and argued that the Senate-passed resolution did not go far enough in enacting the kind of sweeping cuts they desire.

The President put his weight behind the “one, big, beautiful” budget resolution all week, trying to strong-arm the holdouts into submission in person and on social media.

Trump posted on social media twice Wednesday morning, urging House Republicans to “pass the Tax Cut Bill, NOW!”

Tuesday night, speaking at the National Republican Congressional Committee Dinner, Trump called on the holdouts, saying: “Close your eyes and get there. It’s a phenomenal bill. Stop grandstanding.”

“If we don’t get it done because of stupidity or a couple of people who want to show how great they are, you just have to laugh at them or smile at them or cry right in their face,” he said.

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Notable Replies

  1. It’s not that Rethugliklans hate humanity, or that they revel in the cruelty … just kidding.

  2. Unfortunately not just them - though it will destroy rural healthcare.

    Are they talking about $1.5T in one year - total spend is $6.75T, so that’s 22% of the total budget. Discretionary spending is $1.8T, and half of that is the War Department, which is inviolable.

    I don’t think depression is a big enough word to capture what will happen if they somehow manage that.

  3. I guess rebuking in the name of Jesus fell short.

  4. Johnson said Republicans are “committed to finding at least $1.5 trillion in savings for the American people while also preserving our essential programs,” adding that they will “aim much higher” than just the $1.5 trillion.

    Who are these ‘American people’ who will benefit from having this spending cut?
    You know, like who’s not benefitting from the funded programs?

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