The conservative House Freedom Caucus laid out their “phase one” proposal Thursday for legislation to carry out President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda, calling for billions of dollars in spending cuts among other Republican wish list items.
The 31-member bloc asked Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to introduce two bills, the first of which would reverse more than half a dozen Biden administration policies with the goal of saving between $361 and $541 billion over the next decade.
Those proposals include repealing President Biden’s electric vehicle mandate, cutting funding for the IRS, adding work requirements for Medicare and food stamps, eliminating benefits for illegal immigrants, and allowing oil and gas drilling on federal land and offshore sites.
In exchange, the lawmakers said they would support a $4 trillion increase in the federal debt ceiling ahead of a prospective June deadline to increase America’s credit limit.
“Our proposal is a Republican plan that we believe can reach 218 votes, that would also allow us to keep the ball on the Republican side of the negotiating field for defense and non-defense appropriations – while delivering wins and uniting the conference,” the caucus wrote in an unsigned statement accompanying its pitch.
In addition to those cuts and reforms, the Freedom Caucus wants between $100 and $200 billion in increased defense spending, as well as an extra $100 billion in border security funding over the next four years.
The first bill does not consider expanding or making permanent Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, which expire at the end of this year.
The Freedom Caucus’ approach also diverges from plans by Johnson and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.), who want everything in a single bill, making it easier to get potential rabble-rousers on board.
Trump himself has expressed support for what he calls the “one big beautiful bill” approach, but has signaled that he approves of whichever path makes life easier for House and Senate GOP leadership.
To get all of Trump’s sweeping agenda through the Senate, Republicans will need to utilize a process known as reconciliation in order to bypass the 60-vote legislative filibuster.
The Senate GOP almost universally prefers two reconciliation bills so that they can give Trump a quick win on border security before hashing out the more technical details of tax reform later this year.
Johnson has conveyed optimism that he could wrangle a single bill through his chamber, telling Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” earlier this month he was “targeting a vote in the House maybe in the first week of April,” with the “worst-case scenario” being a vote on final passage around the May 26 Memorial Day holiday to send the bill to the Senate.
Skeptics, such as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) have noted Johnson’s occasional difficulties moving spending bills through the lower chamber, while others have argued that the arcane process of reconciliation has historically delayed the passing of sweeping legislation, such as ObamaCare or President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.
Historically, Freedom Caucus members have butted heads with GOP leadership on government spending. Last month, for example, many members of the group railed against Johnson’s plan to avert a government shutdown, which ultimately passed with Democratic support.
If Republicans take the one-bill approach, the House will have to produce the legislation before it goes to the Senate because it would involve significant tax code reforms. If the bills are split in two, the Senate could take the lead on energy, border and defense provisions.
Smith, 44, has been a staunch advocate of the one-bill path, fretting that the two-bill approach risks letting key provisions of the 2017 tax cuts expire.
Moreover, Johnson and his allies are concerned that they might not have sufficient leverage with House GOP rabble-rousers to shove two separate reconciliation bills through the chamber.
“We stand ready to consider any proposal, and to work with colleagues on their specific issues and negotiate in good faith on spending cuts necessary to make reconciliation actually result in deficit reduction,”the Freedom Caucus said Thursday, “be it one bill or two.”
