Speaker Johnson faces GOP turmoil over Trump budget framework
Shreedhar Rathi | Apr 08, 2025, 00:08 IST
( Image credit : AP, TOIGLOBAL )
Speaker Mike Johnson faces a challenging week navigating Republican divisions over a Senate-passed budget resolution aligned with Trump's agenda. The framework, supporting tax cuts and border security, encounters resistance from conservatives due to spending cut targets and tax assumptions. Johnson secured a deal on floor voting rules, while Trump's endorsement and Senate cabinet confirmations could influence the outcome.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is bracing for a politically turbulent week as he attempts to unify a fractured Republican conference around a Senate-passed budget resolution designed to advance President Trump’s legislative agenda.
The resolution outlines key pillars of Trump’s second-term priorities — including tax cuts, energy policies, and increased border security funding — but it’s facing fierce resistance from House conservatives. At least three Republicans, including Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas), Lloyd Smucker (R-Pa.), and Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), have vowed to vote against the framework. With Democrats unified in opposition, Johnson can afford to lose no more than three GOP votes.
Critics on the right are particularly incensed by two elements of the Senate plan: a significantly lower spending cut target for Senate committees ($4 billion) compared to the House’s proposed $1.5 trillion, and the use of budgetary gimmicks that assume the extension of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts won’t affect the deficit.
Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) called the Senate’s cut “a cheeseburger,” while Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) slammed the bill as a “non-starter.”
Moderate Republicans, however, favor the Senate's softer approach, with Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) predicting the final product will align more closely with the Senate’s numbers.
Johnson is walking a tightrope, trying to appease both factions. In a weekend letter to GOP members, he argued the Senate blueprint “in NO WAY prevents us from achieving our goals” in the final reconciliation bill.
In a related victory, Johnson reached a deal with Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), who had held up House action over her push for proxy voting for new parents. The compromise formalizes a "vote pairing" system, allowing absent members to coordinate with colleagues voting oppositely to cancel out absences during critical votes. The move should ease floor gridlock, allowing the House to resume regular business.
With Johnson under intense pressure to deliver on Trump's agenda, the former president's endorsement of the Senate resolution is expected to play a crucial role in rallying Republican support. The White House Legislative Affairs team has already begun lobbying House members to back the framework ahead of a vote expected this week.
Meanwhile, the Senate is set to advance more of Trump’s Cabinet picks, beginning Monday with a vote to move forward Elbridge Colby’s nomination for undersecretary of Defense for policy. Other nominees in the pipeline include Mike Huckabee for ambassador to Israel.
The resolution outlines key pillars of Trump’s second-term priorities — including tax cuts, energy policies, and increased border security funding — but it’s facing fierce resistance from House conservatives. At least three Republicans, including Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas), Lloyd Smucker (R-Pa.), and Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), have vowed to vote against the framework. With Democrats unified in opposition, Johnson can afford to lose no more than three GOP votes.
Deep Divisions Over Budget Cuts and Tax Assumptions
Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) called the Senate’s cut “a cheeseburger,” while Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) slammed the bill as a “non-starter.”
Moderate Republicans, however, favor the Senate's softer approach, with Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) predicting the final product will align more closely with the Senate’s numbers.
Johnson is walking a tightrope, trying to appease both factions. In a weekend letter to GOP members, he argued the Senate blueprint “in NO WAY prevents us from achieving our goals” in the final reconciliation bill.