House Conservatives Threaten To Kill ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ in Key Committee Vote Friday

Multiple lawmakers have raised objections to the bill now that projections are coming out that show it will add trillions of dollars to the deficit.

AP/Rod Lamkey, Jr.
Speaker Johnson at the Capitol, May 6, 2025. AP/Rod Lamkey, Jr.

Speaker Johnson has been waging a war on all fronts on President Trump’s “one big beautiful bill,” with moderates attempting to protect Medicaid and certain tax credits, New Yorkers who want more tax deductions for their districts, and hardliners who don’t want to add even a penny to the deficit. 

The House Budget Committee will meet on Friday morning to debate a number of bills that are due to be rolled into the Republican megabill that leadership hopes can pass before Memorial Day. Some deficit hawks on the panel say they cannot vote for the legislation, given the new deficit projections that have come out in recent days. 

The panel has 21 Republican members and 16 Democratic members, though one Republican lawmaker will likely be absent due to the recent birth of his child, meaning that GOP leadership can afford to lose just one of its members on committee for the bill to survive. 

Two members of the committee, Congressman Chip Roy and Congressman Ralph Norman, have said they will vote against the bill in committee because of the level of spending. New estimates suggest the bill could add as much as $2.5 trillion to the federal budget deficit, and $3.7 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years. 

Emerging from a meeting on Capitol Hill with the entire House Republican conference on Thursday, Mr. Norman confirmed to the Sun that he will vote against the bill in committee Friday. He says he can’t support a bill that pushes new work requirements for Medicaid all the way to 2029 — after Mr. Trump leaves the White House. He also has concerns with tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act not being repealed. 

“I questioned the timing on work requirements,” Mr. Norman said. “I questioned the IRA phase-outs. … My point is we need to have answers before it hits the floor.”

“That’s my whole issue,” he said. 

A third member of the Budget Committee, Congressman Glenn Grothman, would not say how he is voting Friday, if the meeting is held. He says he plans to speak to the chairman, Congressman Jodey Arrington, on Thursday night. 

“That meeting, I think it’ll happen,” Mr. Grothman says. “I’ll talk to Arrington about it.”

When the Sun asked if the lengthy meeting with his colleagues assuaged any of his concerns, Mr. Grothman turned toward the door of the meeting room and said, “That? No.”

A fourth Budget Committee member, Congressman Andrew Clyde, told Fox News on Thursday that he was a hard no on the bill when it comes to the committee. 

“I’m a no on advancing the budget reconciliation bill out of the Budget Committee in its current form. There are numerous issues that we must address,” he said. “I’m actively involved in negotiations to improve this package, and I’m hopeful that we will do so quickly in order to successfully deliver on President Trump’s agenda for the American people.”

Mr. Arrington, after leaving the meeting, refused to tell reporters if he even planned to hold his committee hearing on Friday. 


The New York Sun

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