EXCLUSIVE: House Conservatives Urge Senate To Keep ‘Pay-For’ In Trump Bill
'Not to revive this loophole'
Fiscal hawks send warning as 'big, beautiful bill' clears high-stakes vote: 'We have to do more to deliver'
The "big, beautiful bill" passed a key vote in the House Budget Committee Sunday night after five spending skeptics initially tanked the bill on Friday.
Rather than derail reconciliation a second time, four Republicans voted "present" to advance the bill in a 17-16 vote on Sunday night. On Friday, Republican Reps. Chip Roy of Texas, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Andrew Clyde of Georgia, Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma, and Lloyd Smucker of Pennsylvania all voted against the bill, resulting in a 16-21 vote.
This time around, Roy, Norman, Clyde, and Brecheen voted "present" to advance the bill, while Smucker voted in favor of it. Notably, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) also met with Norman, Clyde, and Brecheen Sunday morning before the vote.
'This bill is a strong step forward. ... But we have to do more to deliver for the American people.'
RELATED: The Republicans who could derail reconciliation
"Tonight, after a great deal of work and engagement over the weekend, the Budget Committee advanced a reconciliation bill that lays the foundation for much-needed tax relief, border security, and important spending reductions and reforms," Roy said in a statement. "Importantly, the bill now will move Medicaid work requirements forward and reduces the availability of future subsidies under the green new scam."
Reforms to the Medicaid work requirements were initially set to take effect in 2029, which was not nearly aggressive enough for fiscal hawks like Roy. Johnson reportedly offered the holdouts a 2026 implementation date, which may have swayed many of the holdouts to allow the bill to advance.
"But the bill does not yet meet the moment — leaving almost half of the green new scam subsidies continuing," Roy added. "More, it fails to end the Medicaid money laundering scam and perverse funding structure that provides seven times more federal dollars for each dollar of state spending for the able-bodied relative to the vulnerable."
"This all ultimately increases the likelihood of continuing deficits and non-Obamacare-expansion states like Texas expanding in the future," Roy added. "We can and must do better before we pass the final product."
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The bill can be amended only in the Rules Committee, which will hold its hearing on Wednesday at 1:00 a.m. House Republican leadership members have also said they will refrain from sending lawmakers home for Memorial Day, which was their original target.
"As such, I joined with three of my colleagues to vote 'present' out of respect for the Republican Conference and the president to move the bill forward," Roy said. "It gives us the opportunity to work together this week 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."
"This bill is a strong step forward — and I am proud of Chairman Arrington, the speaker, and my colleagues for the work we did to make progress with the White House," Roy added. "But we have to do more to deliver for the American people."
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The Republicans who could derail reconciliation
Reconciliation talks are beginning to boil over as Republican factions begin attacking the "big, beautiful bill" from all angles.
Up until this week, critics have been relatively quiet about reconciliation while the majority of Republicans embraced the bill, meant to codify President Donald Trump's agenda.
To be clear, the bill does so to an extent. The tax policy is studded with pro-family provisions and includes the incredibly popular "no tax on tips" policy Trump floated during his campaign. There are Medicaid reforms intended to trim the fat and reduce fraud by enforcing work requirements. It even increases the endowment tax on elite universities like Harvard, subjecting the largest endowments to the 21% corporate rate.
But what was supposed to be the centerpiece in the Republican-led Congress has become a focal point for conflict, and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is doing what he can to plug as many leaks as possible.
'I understand that we have a thin majority, but we should deliver.'
RELATED: Vance tells Glenn Beck Congress needs to 'get serious' about codifying DOGE cuts
Some defectors who have been the most difficult to please are the SALT Caucus, a bipartisan bunch pushing to eliminate the $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions. The blue-state Republicans in the caucus, like Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, have been particularly stubborn during these closed-door negotiations.
During one of their many meetings this week, the members even threw out their colleague Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York because she supported the proposed $30,000 cap increase that came out of the Ways and Means Committee. Notably, Malliotakis is the only SALT Caucus member on the committee and therefore the only member with direct influence over tax policy, the very thing the SALT Caucus is trying to change.
Even after holding several meetings throughout the week, Johnson said that he will likely have to work through the weekend to strike a deal with SALT Caucus Republicans.
RELATED: Big, beautiful bill advances after 18-hour markup marathon while SALT talks go south
Predictably, Johnson is also facing an uphill battle against conservatives on Capitol Hill, most notably those on the Budget Committee. The committee is the last to hold a markup on Friday morning, which consists of piecing together all the reconciliation portions that have come out of the 11 House committees' markups.
There are no amendments allowed in the Budget Committee. They will simply vote to advance the bill in its entirety.
The problem is that several Republicans on the committee have already committed to voting against the bill's advancement. There are 21 Republicans and 15 Democrats on the House Budget Committee, meaning Republicans can afford to lose only two votes if they want to get the bill across with a simple majority. Yet among those 21 Republicans, four of them said they are willing to tank the bill.
Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas told Blaze News earlier in the week that he couldn't get behind the bill because it doesn't do enough to rein in spending and address fraud in the Medicaid system.
"It has to be amended," Roy told Blaze News. "I'm not going to be able to support it as it's currently drafted, and those amendments are going to need to be, you know, relatively significant."
"I didn't come here to perpetuate a broken system," Roy added. "I understand that we have a thin majority, but we should deliver."
Republican Reps. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Andrew Clyde of Georgia, and Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma echoed Roy's concerns, saying they too intended to vote against the bill in committee.
Despite these naysayers, leadership is pushing on, with Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) saying he is confident the bill will pass committee on Friday.
"We did the hard work of setting real targets to restore fiscal sanity, and I’m confident we will have the votes in the Budget Committee tomorrow," Arrington said in a statement. "The Republican conference is working in good faith through a few scoring and policy clarifications. With something this big and beautiful, you’ve got to get it right."
If the bill manages to scrape by in the Budget Committee, it will be headed to the Rules Committee on Monday before eventually being put up for a vote on the floor before the Memorial Day target. Unlike the Budget Committee, the Rules Committee allows amendments, which Johnson, who has a historically narrow House majority, will likely need to make if he wants to get enough votes to pass the bill.
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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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