Will GOP Unify, or Continue to Screw Around with the Budget?

Republicans are coming down to the wire on the budget. Only time will tell if they move the legislation fast enough to protect the Trump tax cuts. While most of the GOP are unified in working to get a bill over the finish line, there are some Republicans in the House of Representatives who are making demands, according to George Caldwell at The Daily Signal.

Fiscal hawks want to the bill to implement requirements for work in Medicaid, and they want the implementation to be sooner rather than later. Most people understand that able-bodied adults should be working and paying their own way in life instead of dipping into funds meant for children and disabled adults.

Republicans in blue states comprise another group that is making demands. They want “a higher cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions against federal taxes.” Such deductions would “lessen the effects of blue states’ high tax rates.” This means that American taxpayers nationwide would be paying for the bad policies in Democrat-run states.

President Donald Trump met with the House GOP Conference on Tuesday, and “moderate Republicans are hoping that his stern command to unify will bring holdouts into line to vote for the budget reconciliation bill.” Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) reported that Trump told the group to stop screwing around with the bill and get it across the finish line. Trump’s tough language apparently irritated some Republicans in the meeting.

There are numerous reasons why the bill should pass both the House and the Senate as quickly as possible. One reason is that Trump’s first-term 2017 tax cuts will end at the end of 2025. Another reason is that Tom Holman and his associates need funding if they are to deport ten to twenty million illegal immigrants. Holman said that he has been on Capital Hill numerous times trying to help move the bill along. A third reason is that funding is needed to build a wall along our southern border and include technical and aerial assets to help defend the sovereignty of the nation.

Although “major disagreements remain,” there are “many Republicans [who] are calling for those members to put their disagreements to the side. The bill is set on a fast timeline, as it will go to the House Rules Committee for a vote at 1 a.m. Wednesday morning, which would clear the way for a floor vote.” By the time that this essay is posted, we should know if the bill was moved out of the House Rules Committee. Caldwell wrote the following in his article.

“[The meeting] also reminded them that Donald Trump is a singular powerful political figure, and that he is fatigued by us messing around with this thing, as is much of America. It is time to land this plane, and my colleagues increasingly are coming to understand that is the cold, hard truth. This is a good bill. Let’s pass it,” Johnson said to The Daily Signal.

Johnson also argued that supporting the bill, despite its shortcomings, is the pragmatic thing to do.

“This bill is not perfect; it does not cut enough. If I was the only member of the House, we would probably cut another $500 billion or $1 trillion. But politics is the art of the possible, and this is the largest deficit-reduction measure in a generation,” he said, adding:

“And so, although it does not go far enough, it is a heck of a lot better than failure, which would increase taxes on 80% of American families.”

Rep. Erin Houchin, R-Ind., similarly said she hopes that Trump’s visit to the Capitol will unify Republicans.

“My impression is that President Trump’s message was widely, very well received this morning. He was clear that we’re probably not all going to get everything that we want in this package, but the things that we’re doing, as we mentioned in this press conference, are transformational,” she said.

“I think the message was well received, and I think we’re getting closer to having a consensus product,” she said.

“He was direct with us on what he expected. He was also in very good spirits, as was everybody in the room. It was a good time with the president to hear from him, to get his vision for what he wants us to do in the next week or so.”