House GOP unveils $95 billion defense, farm and voting plan
The budget resolution would add war and election-law funding without offsets as deficits approach $2 trillion, according to Fortune.
By Hana Yoshida · Markets Reporter
4 min read
House Republicans released a $95 billion budget plan Wednesday that would steer money to defense, farm aid and tighter voter registration rules, according to Fortune. The proposal matters because it would add new spending without offsets as annual federal deficits approach nearly $2 trillion.
The 47-page budget resolution is designed to open a fast-track legislative process for priorities backed by President Donald Trump, Fortune reported. Republicans want to use that process, known as reconciliation, to bypass Democratic opposition and pass a later bill with simple majorities in both chambers.
House Speaker Mike Johnson moved ahead after meeting with Trump at the White House this week, according to Fortune. Johnson framed the package as a Republican priority before the midterm elections, when control of Congress will be at stake.
“Safeguarding American elections and strengthening our national defense are the most basic responsibilities of Congress,” Johnson said in a statement.
Most of the money would go to war funding
Fortune reported that the largest share of the plan would support the U.S.-led war against Iran, including money to rebuild stockpiles and pay for classified programs tied to Operation Epic Fury. The plan tracks a White House supplemental funding request submitted to Congress last month, but is far smaller than the administration’s proposed $350 billion Defense Department increase in its annual budget request.
The resolution directs several House committees to write legislation within deficit limits. Fortune reported that the Armed Services Committee would be allowed up to $60 billion in deficit increases through 2036, the Intelligence Committee up to $13 billion, the Agriculture Committee up to $12 billion and the House Administration Committee up to $10 billion.
The farm money is aimed at producers facing higher gas and fertilizer costs and retaliatory tariffs, according to Fortune. The election money would support parts of a Republican voting overhaul that would require people registering to vote to show proof of citizenship.
Voting rules face procedural and timing questions
Trump has pressed Republicans to pass the voting legislation, including provisions associated with the SAVE America Act, Fortune reported. The measure has passed the House but lacks enough Senate support to clear the chamber’s 60-vote threshold under normal rules.
Republicans are trying to move parts of the proposal through reconciliation, which can pass with simple majorities. Fortune reported that it remains unclear how the budget package would impose or fund election-law changes, or whether any changes could take effect before the midterms as state election work is already underway.
The House Budget Committee is expected to take up the resolution Thursday, with possible House floor action next week, according to Fortune. Both the House and Senate would need to approve the same budget resolution before committees could begin writing the follow-up legislation.
Democrats oppose the party-line route
Democrats have objected to using a partisan process for war funding, Fortune reported. Rep. Brendan Boyle, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, said the plan would add tens of billions of dollars in debt for what he called the most unpopular war in American history.
“I’m going to fight like hell to make sure taxpayer dollars are being used to lower costs and make life better for American families, not to bankroll Trump’s giveaways to billionaires and endless wars overseas,” Boyle said.
Johnson praised Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington of Texas for moving quickly on what would be Republicans’ third reconciliation bill of this Congress, according to Fortune. Trump’s tax-cut law last year and a Homeland Security funding bill this year passed largely along party lines.
Arrington said Republicans chose not to seek offsets because the defense request had been reduced to wartime replenishment needs and because directing the Senate Finance Committee to find savings could have reopened cuts from last year’s bill, Fortune reported. He also said working with Democrats through regular spending channels likely would have required concessions.
“There’s no doubt that Democrats would exact a big price,” Arrington said. “We avoided that, so I would say in this moment, with this scenario, that’s a win.”
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.