Who Are the House Republicans?

My VIPs for this week are the House Republicans who pushed the “one big beautiful” reconciliation package out of the Budget Committee late Sunday night. According to Rachel Schilke on MSN.com, this was a victory for both President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), and it “came after GOP fiscal hawks relented due to concessions from leadership related to Medicaid and clean energy policy repeals.” Schilke noted that Johnson would not provide details on the changes, but he said the following: 

“I think it’s the desire of every Republican, always has been to make work requirements real and actionable as soon as possible. We learned in the process that some of the states needed a longer lag time to add in the implementation of the new policy. So we’re going to … make it happen sooner, as soon as possible. And I think that’s a good change in the policy.”

Heading into the vote Friday, the bill was perceived as dead on arrival in the Budget Committee given at least three of the five original detractors – Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), Ralph Norman (R-SC), and Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) – said earlier in the week they had issues with the legislation and were strongly opposed to voting for it in committee.

But Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-TX) told reporters that Friday’s vote served as a “catalyst” to push discussions forward.

Ranking member Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA) had asked Arrington at the start of the vote to provide details on the changes made, but the chairman deflected and said all the alternations would be discussed in a forthcoming Rules Committee hearing.

Schilke’s report explained that Roy and three of his colleagues are still not pleased with the bill but voted “present,” using Roy’s words of “out of respect for the Republican Conference and the President to move the bill forward.” Moving the bill out of the Budget Committee gives an opportunity for further work on it with the hope “to get the job done in light of the fact our bond rating was dropped yet again due to historic fiscal mismanagement by both parties.” …

The Freedom Caucus board said in a statement the bill will be closer to the budget framework passed in April but “fails to actually honor our promise to significantly correct the spending trajectory of the federal government.”

“We’ve seen this play before, where things get kicked down the road, and so we’re not wanting to stand for it,” Cloud said.

“We’ve been working for several months, constantly doing our best to be diplomatic and give leeway for maneuverability at every single point,” he added. “But we’re to the point now to where there’s no more steps for that. Now’s the time to deliver, and so we’ve got to make sure that leadership is committed to doing that.”

The bill will next go to the House Rules Committee – on Tuesday or Wednesday – for final adjustments. Johnson is hoping for “a full House vote on Thursday to meet his deadline of passage before the Memorial Day holiday.