Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, Arizona Rep. Abraham Hamadeh, and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota following a Capitol press conference on Tuesday, February 11. J. Scott Applewhite/AP
The budget resolution released Wednesday by the House Republican caucus contains no concrete details, but it codifies a GOP strategy that should surprise absolutely no one.
In parallel with the mayhem playing out in the Executive Branch, the House lawmakers aim to gut agencies Donald Trump disfavors, boost spending for those that align with his agenda, renew and extend the 2017 tax cuts that enriched America’s most affluent—his latest proposals all told, by one estimate, would raise taxes on all but the top 5 percent. They also pay lip service to the deficit even as their proposals will increase it significantly, perhaps as a way to build political consensus for cuts to programs like Social Security and Medicare.
Specifically, the new resolution directs each House committee to submit recommendations, by March 25, to either cut or increase federal spending under its jurisdiction. The figures below cover the 10-year period from 2025 to 2034.
Cuts (“not less than…”)Agriculture: $230 billionEducation and Workforce: $330 billionEnergy and Commerce: $880 billionFinancial Services: $1 billionNatural Resources: $1 billionOversight and Government Reform: $50 billionTransportation and Infrastructure: $10 billion
Total cuts: $1.5 trillion
Increases (“not more than…”)Armed Services: $100 billionHomeland Security: $90 billionJudiciary: $110 billion
And the doozy: Ways and Means, the committee responsible for tax policy, “shall submit changes in laws within its jurisdiction that increase the deficit by not more than $4,500,000,000,000.”
That’s an invitation for a net $4.5 trillion in tax cuts.
Total increases: $4.8 trillion
If the total cuts from the group above don’t reach $2 trillion, the document states, the difference will come out of Ways and Means’ $4.5 trillion allowance. That would leave us with almost $3 trillion in deficit spending. But at least the rich will get their tax breaks, right?
The resolution also asks Ways and Means to request a $4 trillion increase in the debt limit.
In the past, House Republicans have talked a good game on balanced budgets. This would be anything but. Tellingly, their resolution makes a show of lamenting the growing federal debt, which “poses a significant risk to the country’s long-term fiscal sustainability, with implications for future generations.” The document points to the mandatory spending that accounts for more than 70 percent of the budget, noting that it has increased by 59 percent since 2019.
And yes, the growing debt is a problem, especially when interest rates are higher, which makes servicing payments expensive, but there are ways to narrow the deficit that the Republicans, along with Elon Musk and his DOGE bros, have largely ignored.
Indeed, the gripes about mandatory federal spending, especially in this context, sound like a pre-justification for cutting from the three biggest areas of mandatory spending: Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
Republicans have already targeted Medicaid, the national health insurance program for the poor, by proposing work requirements—which evidence shows are little more than a cruel tactic to purge people from the rolls. Going after Social Security and Medicare would be messing with America’s seniors, who are relatively wealthy and politically engaged, driving up their health care costs.
Historically, the latter two have been political third rails, “but with this group, I kind of never know anymore,” says a Democratic aide who works with the House Ways and Means Commitee. “They’re already talking about doing things on Social Security and Medicare in a way that I never would have thought they would be talking about, but it’s definitely in the ether.”
