Trump budget bill fails House committee vote

The House Budget Committee on Friday voted 16-21 against advancing a massive budget bill to the House floor for debates and voting. Several Republicans joined committee Democrats in blocking advancement of the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act, named in a nod to President Trump.

All of the committee’s Democrats voted against the bill. Four Republicans also voted no in the initial roll call vote: Reps. Chip Roy, R-Texas, Ralph Norman R-S.C., Josh Brecheen, R-Okla., and Andrew Clyde, R-Ga.

After everyone had voted, Rep. Lloyd Smucker, R-Penn., switched his vote to no. He made the change for procedural reasons, so the committee could reconsider the bill, he said. The committee adjourned for the weekend and will meet again on Monday.

What do the Republican holdouts want? The four initial no votes came from representatives who are part of the House Freedom Caucus. They say they are concerned about the bill’s high spending. They are also pushing for the bill’s new work requirements for Medicaid to start immediately, not in 2029 as the bill outlines. The representatives also want wind and solar tax credits to start phasing out before the bill’s current threshold of 2029.

The House Freedom Caucus said House discussions were making progress toward addressing its concerns, but weren’t resolved by the time a vote was called. Roy and others intended to work through the weekend on negotiations to improve the budget bill.

Dig deeper: Read my recent report for an explanation of some challenges the bill will face if it gets to the House floor.