Two of the committees that hold the fate of President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill” will huddle for hourslong hearings Tuesday to hammer out the details of the GOP budget proposal.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee and House Ways and Means Committee are set to mark up the budget bill that passed earlier this year on Tuesday at 2 p.m., with deliberation expected to take close to 30 hours. This comes after both committees delayed the hearings last week following a meeting with the White House.
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These committees are under immense pressure. House leadership has set an ambitious timeline to pass the bill in the lower chamber before Memorial Day, with the Senate’s final passage by the Fourth of July.
Some details about the proposed legislation released over the weekend call for increasing the child tax credit from $2,000 to $2,500, imposing work requirements for lower-income Americans receiving Medicaid healthcare benefits, and curbing federal dollars to Planned Parenthood.
Democrats have dubbed the GOP proposal “dangerous,” and they plan on doing everything in their power to fight back and delay Trump’s agenda as it’s being pushed through Congress in a process called budget reconciliation. The framework for the budget had final passage earlier this month, allowing these committees to draft a bill at certain spending levels. Through one megabill, the GOP hopes to pass a renewal of Trump’s 2017 tax law alongside priorities on energy, defense, and the border.
Late last month, committees began holding markups, a series of hearings in which lawmakers sign off on the legislative text. The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s markup is expected to draw heated debate over Medicaid reforms and cuts, with new work requirements and more frequent eligibility checks expected.
The House Ways and Means Committee’s meeting is anticipated to include a debate over the cap on state and local tax, or SALT, deductions. House Republicans are promising welfare benefits will not be cut as part of the $1.5 trillion in spending offsets demanded by fiscal hawks, but some changes could prove controversial with GOP centrists.
“Whatever it takes to make this the most difficult vote for them,” Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH) told the Washington Examiner ahead of the Energy and Commerce Committee meeting. “It would not be fair at all to the American people, who are about to lose their healthcare, for us not to put up the most substantive fight possible.”
Democrats in these committees intend to use this time as leverage to get centrists to work with them.
“They’re all over the place, and the solution is staring them right in the face, which is, ‘Don’t make this hyperpartisan,’” Landsman continued. “You know, work with us. Pursue tax relief for everyone who needs it, working people to middle class, small businesses, and farmers, and let the tax cuts for the super wealthy expire.”
Several lawmakers from swing districts and states have remained concerned that the $880 billion in proposed Energy and Commerce Committee cuts will likely run through Medicaid.
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Possible cuts to Medicaid have provided an opportunity for Democratic campaign attacks, which have slammed Republicans for wanting to slash working-class families’ benefits.
“They’re clearly arguing internally about how many people to hurt,” Landsman told the Washington Examiner.
A group of 12 centrist Republicans wrote a letter last month to leadership and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-KY) expressing opposition to any cuts to Medicaid that would reduce coverage for vulnerable populations.
“As Members of Congress who helped to deliver a Republican majority, many of us representing districts with high rates of constituents who depend on Medicaid, we would like to reiterate our strong support for this program that ensures our constituents have reliable healthcare. Balancing the federal budget must not come at the expense of those who depend on these benefits for their health and economic security,” the letter said.
The letter was signed by Reps. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ), David Valadao (R-CA), Don Bacon (R-NE), Rob Bresnahan (R-PA), Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ), Jen Kiggans (R-VA), Young Kim (R-CA), Rob Wittman (R-VA), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Nick LaLota (R-NY), Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), and Jeff Hurd (R-CO).
Those lawmakers concerned with possible Medicaid cuts are also in the group concerned with SALT — another major thorn in the side for Johnson as he and leadership navigate reconciliation.
Republican lawmakers from high-tax blue states like New York, California, and New Jersey have outsize power to force changes to the $10,000 SALT cap during reconciliation because of the House’s razor-thin GOP majority. In lifting the cap, they would undo a reform won in 2017. The cap is popular with most rank-and-file members and was used to offset some of the costs of the initial Trump tax cuts for things such as lower tax rates, doubled standard deduction, and boosted child tax credit.
Three New York Republicans — Reps. Elise Stefanik, Mike Lawler, and Nick LaLota — released a statement Thursday rejecting the “insulting” flat $30,000 SALT cap.
“Yet with no notice or agreement, the Speaker and the House Ways and Means Committee unilaterally proposed a flat $30,000 SALT cap — an amount they already knew would fall short of earning our support,” the New York Republicans wrote. “It’s just insulting — it risks derailing President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill.”
Malliotakis, the only SALT Caucus member who sits on the Ways and Means Committee, broke from her colleagues, telling the Washington Examiner that “tripling the deduction to $30,000 will provide much-needed relief for the middle-class and cover 98% of the families in my district.”
Van Drew confirmed to reporters Thursday that leadership is planning on holding more meetings with centrist Republicans, but he did not know a timeline yet, noting he thinks the president will need to weigh in at some point. The New Jersey Republican said he believes there are at least 25 members with similar concerns regarding Medicaid.
While Van Drew has concerns about possible cuts, he also expresses unease about not passing Trump’s agenda.
“I’ll tell you what also hurts your chances for getting elected and maintaining the majority, and we know what that is: not getting it done. Not getting it done is a disaster,” Van Drew told reporters Thursday.
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Meanwhile, the White House is acknowledging the turmoil in the House.
“There’s a lot of disagreement on Capitol Hill right now about the SALT tax proposal,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Friday. “We will let them work it out.”
Leavitt made clear that Trump wants to see his campaign promises in the bill, including no taxes on tips, overtime, or Social Security benefits. Trump has floated the idea of letting the 2017 tax cuts on millionaires expire to pay for his priorities.
“Anyone who opposes this bill will be opposing the largest tax cut in American history,” Leavitt said, urging Congress to get the work done.
As Tuesday approaches and disagreements remain unresolved, the Memorial Day passage goal seems aspirational to House members.
“I love the House of Representatives. I’m a member, obviously. Sometimes, we have to look in the mirror,” Van Drew said. “We are our own worst enemy at the time.”