House GOP drops clean spending bill with Trump’s blessing

House Republicans recently announced a full-year spending bill just days before a ⁢potential government shutdown, receiving‍ support from President ⁣Donald Trump and some hard-line conservatives. The ​continuing ⁣resolution (CR) outlines $892.5 billion in defense spending and approximately $708 billion for⁤ non-defense, both below the fiscal 2025 caps. Notably, defense spending sees a slight increase while non-defense spending decreases. While the bill aims ​to​ maintain current funding levels‌ until‌ september 30, 2025, it includes some requested anomalies, ‍such as additional ‍funding⁣ for U.S.immigration ‌and Customs​ Enforcement ‌and a⁣ significant ⁤cut ⁤to IRS funding.​

Despite some bipartisan efforts for disaster aid in light of recent ‍natural disasters, the final ‍bill notably lacks such measures, leading to Democratic accusations that it is a partisan effort that undermines ​healthcare and support ​for ⁢average Americans.Hard-line conservatives, typically skeptical of stop-gap measures, are backing the ‍bill following Trump’s encouragement, but ​dissent exists within the party,‍ posing potential challenges for passage. The CR is set to be ‍reviewed in the Rules⁣ Committee,with a vote anticipated soon.


House GOP drops clean spending bill with Trump’s blessing days before government shutdown

House Republicans unveiled their long-awaited, full-year spending deal on Saturday just days before government funding is set to expire on Friday, with the support of President Donald Trump and, surprisingly, hard-line conservatives.

The 100-page continuing resolution provides for $892.5 billion in defense spending and around $708 billion in non-defense spending, both of which sit below the caps in fiscal year 2025. Defense spending is moderately increasing from 2024 levels by around $6 billion, while non-defense spending is decreasing by around $13 billion, per the text.

The “clean” continuing resolution, which allows the government to mostly freeze current spending levels, will extend funding until Sept. 30, the end of fiscal 2025. House GOP leaders see the CR as a temporary fix to keep government operations open after bipartisan congressional appropriators were unable to come to an agreement on a topline number for a bigger funding package.

The bill also includes some anomalies requested by the White House, including one involving additional funding for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as Trump continues to push for severe crackdown on border crossings and deportations of illegal immigrants. A $20.2 billion rescission for the Internal Revenue Service is also reflected in the bill, House Republican leadership staff told reporters on Saturday.

There will also be a $6 billion increase in funding for veterans’ healthcare. But staff said there won’t be any community projects in the bill, nor any disaster aid or emergency funding.

In wake of a hurricane on the East Coast and wildfires in California, there had been a bipartisan push to place a supplemental bill on the House floor to provide disaster assistance to states hit by the natural disasters. For a time, leadership weighed attaching disaster aid to the CR as a motivation to get Democrats on board, but that did not end up being the case.

House Democratic leadership accused Republicans of putting up a “partisan continuing resolution” that “rips away life-sustaining healthcare and retirement benefits from everyday Americans.” Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA), and Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar (D-CA) said Medicaid is our “redline” — but House GOP leadership staff have noted that there will be no cuts that affect Medicaid and Medicare in the continuing resolution.

Surprisingly, hard-line conservatives are in favor of the continuing resolution despite typically being opposed to the stop-gap spending strategy in the past. Their support for the CR comes after a handful of them met with Trump at the White House, where the president encouraged their support on the measure to avoid a government shutdown.

With a razor-thin majority, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) can only afford to lose one vote to pass the CR along party lines without Democratic support. But Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) has already signaled he will vote against the CR because it would not include the cuts identified by Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. Rep. Tony Gonzalez (R-TX) also said he was a “NO” on the CR last week.

Though Jeffries has insisted the caucus is united against the Republican CR, it is likely that some conservative Democrats in swing districts or districts won by Trump in 2024 could vote for the spending deal. The minority leader said discussions on how Democrats will respond to the CR will happen during their weekly caucus meeting on Tuesday.

GOP MUST CUT MEDICARE AND MEDICAID TO MEET BUDGET TARGET: CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE

Leadership staff said Trump worked closely to coordinate with House leaders on the CR — a change of pace for the president. Trump himself said last year, when he was a presidential candidate, that he was opposed to clean CRs.

The CR is expected to go to the Rules Committee on Monday, with a vote set for final passage on Tuesday.


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