House GOP leadership is in for a rollercoaster to get President Donald Trump’s “one big beautiful bill” passed with one of the smallest majorities in history as a Texas GOP firebrand calls for a full repeal of former President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), a notorious budget hawk, whose vote on Trump’s agenda will most likely teeter on whether the legislation includes a full repeal of the IRA. Budget hawks argue the repeal will be used to pay for the tax cuts expected in the forthcoming massive budget reconciliation package.
House GOP leadership narrowly passed the budget framework for reconciliation earlier this year to allow for the formal process to begin to craft a bill that will enact much of the president’s agenda in what he wants to be “one big beautiful bill.” Due to the president’s desire to get this bill across the finish line given the narrow margins in the House, the White House pulled Rep. Elise Stefanik’s nomination for U.N. ambassador this week to allow for a little bit of wiggle room for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).
The 2022 IRA was one of Biden’s largest pieces of legislation during his tenure and is considered the most expansive climate bill in history. The law was intended to boost the transition away from fossil fuels with billions of dollars in tax credits and incentives to encourage clean energy projects.
“We should fully repeal the Inflation Reduction Act,” Roy wrote on X. “The billions in green tax credits are a scam and can be traded (boondoggle). Americans get less reliable and more expensive energy. Protecting Biden policy is a bad look. We can’t afford this garbage.”
Roy is not the only member who is an expected holdout on the reconciliation bill if it does not include certain spending cuts. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) is also an expected holdout, as he consistently votes “no” on bills pertaining to spending. When asked if he supports a full repeal of the IRA, he told the Washington Examiner, “Uh sure, yeah.”
A full repeal of the bill is unlikely after 21 of his GOP colleagues wrote a letter to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) earlier this month, stating they want to keep the clean energy tax credits that came from the IRA. The lawmakers wrote that a full repeal could quickly increase utility bills.
These members have expressed they would withhold their support if the tax credits were not preserved according to Politico, putting Johnson in the middle of the familiar tug-of-war between centrists and Freedom Caucus members on a vote with little room for dissent.
“We request that any proposed changes to the tax code be conducted in a targeted and pragmatic fashion that promotes conference priorities without undoing current and future private sector investments which will continue to increase domestic manufacturing, promote energy innovation, and keep utility costs down,” the 21 members wrote in the letter.
Several of those members told the Washington Examiner they want to “take a scalpel, not a sledge.”
“I think my letter spells out, that a good coalition of members signed on to, there’s been an existing level of development ongoing in my district specifically,” Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-PA) told the Washington Examiner. “I can’t speak to Mr. Roy’s district, but for us and our district and our building trades and our workforce, there’s significant development going on that these tax credits will be very beneficial to.”
Although these members have called to save some provisions written in the bill, that does not mean other areas of the bill will not be on the chopping block as Trump pushes his campaign promises of dismantling any federal efforts surrounding climate change.
The Republicans that support the tax credits argue it adds to the U.S.’s energy dominance while pursuing their “all of the above” approach.
“Countless American companies are utilizing sector-wide energy tax credits – many of which have enjoyed broad support in Congress – to make major investments in domestic energy production and infrastructure for traditional and renewable energy sources alike,” the letter said.
Although Republicans disagree on how much of the law should be eliminated, most agree that it needs to be examined for cuts.
“I think that it needs to fully be looked at, and also consider the amount that went to some of these corporations, whether it’s actually helping,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) told the Washington Examiner.
Democrats staunchly opposed any sort of repeal of the massive piece of legislation. Rep. Mike Levin (D-CA) told the Washington Examiner that he has had many conversations across the aisle with the members who signed the letter backing the IRA tax credits.
“I would say that instead of really bad progress, we should be building on the success of the IRA, but doing what we can to lower costs and doing what we can to boost innovation and boost American banks,” Levin told the Washington Examiner.
Democrats also raised the concern of skyrocketing energy costs if the full bill were to be repealed.
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“In the IRA, Democrats invested in real solutions, and the clean energy boom has created more than 400,000 jobs,” Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) said on the Senate floor. “If Trump and Republicans repeal the historic investments, it would spike household energy costs and hurt our economy. All to give tax breaks to the wealthy.”
In order to get the votes of these 21 Republicans who want to preserve IRA tax credits, leadership will have to find other areas for the deep cuts to meet the demands of fiscal hawks. Democrats have slammed Republicans for weeks on the possibility of cutting Medicaid, leaving leadership in a tough spot.