Speaker Johnson pulls off another legislative miracle, this time with budget
The House narrowly passed the Senate's budget blueprint on Thursday, notching another win for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
The vote was initially set to take place Wednesday night but was later postponed by Johnson after it became clear there wasn't enough support from fiscal conservatives to pass the budget. Ultimately, the blueprint passed in a 216-214 vote, with Republican Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Victoria Spartz of Indiana voting against it.
"If you were trying to hasten financial collapse of our country and bribe voters to go along with it, the strategy wouldn’t look much different than what Congress is doing today," Massie said. "The big beautiful bill cuts taxes while keeping spending on an increasingly unsustainable trajectory."
The House and Senate have already passed their own blueprints that included $1.5 trillion and $4 billion in cuts, respectively. With the House taking up the Senate's budget proposal, lawmakers have had difficulty reconciling the vast spending gap.
'Our ambition in the Senate is we are aligned in the House in terms of savings. We're certainly gonna do everything we can to be as aggressive as possible.'
Despite the backing of President Donald Trump's administration, fiscal conservatives disapproved of the Senate's budget, arguing that the proposed $4 billion in cuts are just a drop in the bucket in addressing the national debt. On the Senate side, lawmakers are insisting that their blueprint will give them enough wiggle room and that they are ultimately aiming to implement more aggressive cuts beyond their $4 billion target.
If the House's ambitious blueprint with $1.5 trillion in cuts were passed, committees would likely be unable to meet the required cuts, which would kill the reconciliation process altogether. Simply put, the Senate doesn't have the same appetite for cuts that the House Freedom Caucus and other fiscal conservatives do.
Nevertheless, some holdouts warmed up to the budget blueprint after Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) held a joint press conference with Johnson Thursday morning.
"Our ambition in the Senate is we are aligned in the House in terms of savings," Thune said. "We're certainly gonna do everything we can to be as aggressive as possible.”
"[This is] the first time publicly, the Senate leader has come out and actually said that we’re in the same ballpark with the House and Senate reductions," House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris (R-Md.) said Thursday. "Obviously we were happy with the House spending reduction because we all voted for it, so I think that’s a step in a positive direction.”
Other Republicans like Rep. Marlin Stutzman of Indiana, who were initially undecided, came around to supporting the budget after meeting with Johnson.
"I voted to pass the Trump-endorsed budget resolution before the House today so Congress can unlock the reconciliation process, which will grow the economy, increase American energy production, secure our border, and decrease spending to the same levels that House Republicans passed six weeks ago," Stutzman told Blaze News. "It is time American citizens and fixing our national debt take priority over wasteful, unnecessary spending.”
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GOP lawmakers back bill to lock illegal aliens out of path to citizenship
House Republicans are backing a bill that would prevent illegal aliens from seeking a pathway to citizenship.
Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) introduced the No Citizenship for Alien Invaders Act on Thursday, which would “prohibit immigrants, of any nationality, who have illegally entered the United States from ever obtaining legal citizenship.”
'There can be NO citizenship for the nearly 20 MILLION people who live here illegally.'
If passed, Mills’ bill would amend the existing Immigration and Nationality Act to state, “No alien who enters the United States unlawfully shall be eligible for naturalization, notwithstanding any other provision of the immigration laws.”
Mills said, “Under the Biden administration, we saw more than 10 million encounters at our borders, a crisis exacerbated by reckless catch-and-release policies that allowed criminals who broke our laws to remain in the United States.”
“President Trump has made it clear that anyone that tries to unlawfully undermine, exploit, or bypass our immigration system is a criminal,” he continued. “The No Citizenship for Alien Invaders Act will ensure these criminals will never be granted U.S. citizenship; that privilege will be reserved for those who respect our laws.”
The proposed legislation already has several co-sponsors, including Republican Reps. Josh Brecheen (Okla.), Andy Harris (Md.), and Anna Paulina Luna (Fla.).
Brecheen explained that the bill would prevent illegal immigrants from “being rewarded with citizenship after breaking our laws.”
“America is a nation of laws, and if we allow those laws to be subverted by illegal aliens who have no constitutional right to be here in the first place, then we will cease to be a nation,” he said. “It’s time we get back to common-sense policies that restore law and order to America.”
Luna stated, “Time and time again, Congress refuses to enforce our immigration laws, complains about it being broken, promises to ‘fix it for good’ in exchange for amnesty programs, and then never actually enforces the law like they promised.”
“We need to draw a line in the sand for the sake of the American people: There can be NO citizenship for the nearly 20 MILLION people who live here illegally,” she added.
Earlier this week, Mills also introduced the Prohibiting Automatic Rights to Enter National Territory Act, which would close birthright citizenship loopholes.
This bill would also amend the INA, adding language that would ensure that only those born to at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident would receive birthright citizenship.
Mills noted that the proposed legislation adds to President Donald Trump’s executive order that similarly sought to close birthright citizenship loopholes.
“For decades, criminal migrants have exploited loopholes in our immigration system, undermining our nation’s sovereignty, straining taxpayer resources, and ignoring the rule of law,” Mills said. “By amending the Immigration and Nationality Act, the PARENT Act seeks to end the abuse and reaffirm the principles of American citizenship and our constitutional republic.”
“Building on President Trump’s efforts to protect American sovereignty, this bill ensures birthright citizenship is reserved for those with a legal right to be here. It’s past time to restore integrity to our laws and put American citizens first,” he added.
Harris also co-sponsored Mills’ PARENT Act.
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House Republicans fall in line, narrowly pass Trump-backed funding bill
The House narrowly passed a continuing resolution on Tuesday, just days before the Friday funding deadline. The CR is now headed to the Senate, and it's up to the Democrats to avert a government shutdown.
The CR was passed in almost a party-line vote, 217-213, with Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky the sole Republican holdout. Nearly every single Democrat, with the exception of Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, voted to tank the CR, which was spearheaded by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and President Donald Trump.
With just days until the shutdown deadline, we will see if Democrats would rather vote for the Trump-backed CR or shut down the government altogether.
"Today, House Republicans stood for the American people and voted to maintain funding the paychecks for our troops, the agents who secure our borders, the TSA workers responsible for safe air travel, as well as the healthcare and benefits for veterans, and essential services and programs that keep the government operational," Johnson said in a statement Tuesday. "But House Democrats decided to double down on partisan politics."
The CR itself is a clean 99-page funding bill with certain provisions boosting ICE and defense funds. Despite those increases, the bill reduces spending by $13 billion compared to fiscal year 2024. Because of these cuts, several House Republicans who were on the fence were persuaded to pass the bill.
A lot of the legwork was done behind the scenes in the days leading up to the vote. White House officials like OMB Director Russ Vought met with fiscal conservatives and some members of the House Freedom Caucus to pitch the Trump-backed CR, as Blaze News first reported. Trump also met with the same group of Republicans, many of whom have a history of voting against CRs.
Despite their track record, many Republicans got on board with the most recent CR. The House Freedom Caucus, which is largely composed of spending skeptics, endorsed the CR the night before the vote. HFC Chairman Andy Harris (R-Md.) even made a rare appearance alongside the Republican leadership in a presser Tuesday morning.
So while House Republicans fall in line behind Trump and the GOP leadership, the pressure now weighs on Senate Democrats. Republicans adjourned immediately after the CR's passage, leaving the Senate to take up the bill without the opportunity to make any amendments.
The Senate will need at least 60 votes to pass the GOP-led CR. Meanwhile, Republicans hold just 53 seats. Assuming all Republicans back the CR — and there are currently some holdouts — at least seven Democrats will need to reach across the aisle to avoid shutting down the government. So far, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania is the only Democrat to have signaled support for the CR.
With just days until the shutdown deadline, we will see if Democrats would rather vote for the Trump-backed CR or shut down the government altogether.
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Spending skeptics rally behind Trump's CR pitch as government shutdown looms
With a government shutdown looming over Congress, Republicans have largely united behind President Donald Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) pitch to put through a clean continuing resolution.
Although the text for the CR has not been finalized, House Republicans have come out of closed-door meetings with a positive outlook.
As Blaze News first reported, fiscal conservatives and members of the House Freedom Caucus huddled with Director Russell Vought and other top Office of Management and Budget officials on Monday night, with one White House source in the room describing the meeting as "congenial." The optimism carried through Wednesday afternoon when the same Republicans met with Trump to hear his pitch on a clean CR.
'There is overwhelming support to back the president's agenda to be able to advance and to be able to give room for DOGE and Elon Musk and to give room to Russ Vought and OMB to deliver to the American people.'
"Government funding runs out next week, and Democrats are threatening to shut down the Government - But I am working with the GREAT House Republicans on a Continuing Resolution to fund the Government until September to give us some needed time to work on our Agenda," Trump said in a Truth Social post following the meeting.
"Conservatives will love this Bill, because it sets us up to cut Taxes and Spending in Reconciliation, all while effectively FREEZING Spending this year, and allowing us to continue our work to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN," Trump said. "VERY IMPORTANT - Let’s get this Bill done!"
The benefit of a clean CR is that it would continue Trump's momentum, whereas a government shutdown would stifle it.
'I will try to convince as many of my colleagues as possible that if this is the tool the president needs, we really have a once in a generation opportunity.'
"If [Trump] thinks that a clean CR, put that in air quotes, clean CR, is the way to go for the rest of the fiscal year ... I'm all for it," HFC Chairman Andy Harris (R-Md.) told Blaze News.
"It would be a heavy lift with some conservatives, that’s what they said about the budget resolution and the debt-ceiling increase. But, I think we can achieve this heavy lift," Harris added. "It will take some work over the next week."
To Harris' point, passing a clean CR with such a slim Republican majority will likely be a heavy lift. With respect to reconciliation, Republicans could afford to lose only one vote, and yet, Johnson managed to pull it off.
"I will try to convince as many of my colleagues as possible that if this is the tool the president needs, we really have a 'once in a generation' opportunity," Harris said. "We shouldn't pass it up, because the alternative is to deal with the Democrats."
Republican Rep. Chip Roy (Texas), another past CR skeptic, also came away from closed-door meetings with a positive outlook.
"There is overwhelming support to back the president's agenda to be able to advance and to be able to give room for DOGE and Elon Musk and to give room to Russ Vought and OMB to deliver to the American people," Roy said in a press gaggle Wednesday following the meeting with Trump.
Roy argued that a clean CR would freeze spending at current levels, "which is going to be able to make sure that we hold spending in check" while DOGE and its Capitol Hill allies continue identifying areas of fraud, waste, and abuse.
For other spending skeptics like Republican Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee, continuing DOGE-style cuts is a non-negotiable in order to secure their votes.
'I'm looking at it in a favorable manner. But that doesn't mean I'll vote for it.'
Burchett, who has historically defected during spending fights, told Blaze News that so far, he is "not too inspired" by the Republicans' pitch for a clean CR.
"If they would add the cuts from DOGE, all of them, I could lean in that direction," Burchett told Blaze News. "We got elected to do some things, and DOGE is doing it. I think we ought to take that out for a vote and see what happens."
But even with provisions to codify DOGE cuts, Burchett says it may not be enough to swing his vote in favor of the CR.
"I'm looking at it in a favorable manner," Burchett told Blaze News about a DOGE-style CR. "But that doesn't mean I'll vote for it."
Like with reconciliation, Republicans are operating with incredibly narrow margins. Johnson can afford to lose only one GOP vote, which is likely to be claimed by Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky. With the odds seemingly stacked against them, we will have to wait and see if Republicans can pull off another legislative miracle.
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How the House secured massive spending cuts in the race for reconciliation
House Republicans passed a budget resolution through committee on Thursday, taking back the lead in the race for reconciliation.
Republicans also managed to land on a deal with seven times more spending cuts than their original proposal, and they have the House Freedom Caucus to thank. The budget calls for $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, $4.5 trillion for tax cuts, a $4 trillion debt limit increase, and $300 billion appropriated for defense and border security.
These are all great successes for the GOP, but it wasn't all smooth sailing.
'From the outset of this process, we sought to ensure participation from every member of our conference and make clear that this resolution reflects our collective commitment to enacting the president's full agenda — not just part of it.'
After a weekend retreat at Mar-a-Lago followed by a five-hour-long meeting at the White House, the GOP leadership still had not put forth a budget proposal at the beginning of the week. At that point, the Senate had already sidestepped the House and introduced its own resolution in an attempt to move negotiations forward.
But on Monday afternoon, Blaze News first reported that the House Freedom Caucus dropped its own resolution ahead of the Republican leadership.
"Given the current delay in the House on moving a comprehensive reconciliation bill, moving a smaller targeted bill now makes the most sense to deliver a win for the American people," HFC Chairman Andy Harris said in a statement. "I am proud to introduce the Emergency Border Control Resolution today to set the reconciliation process in motion in the House."
Although the HFC's resolution wasn't advanced, it applied the necessary pressure. Within 48 hours, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) put forth the leadership's budget proposal on Wednesday, teeing it up for markup the following morning.
In a statement following the budget's passage, the House Republican leadership made clear that all factions of the GOP were taken into account during the negotiation process.
"The budget resolution has passed through committee and House Republicans have now cleared a critical hurdle to delivering on the major priorities of President Trump's America First agenda," the statement reads. "From the outset of this process, we sought to ensure participation from every member of our conference and make clear that this resolution reflects our collective commitment to enacting the president's full agenda — not just part of it."
"This is the start of the process, and we remain laser-focused on ultimately sending a bill to President Trump's desk which, among other things, secures the border, keeps taxes low for families and job creators, restores American energy dominance, and makes government work better for all Americans."
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