Speaker Johnson nearly flubs budget resolution, but passes at last second

There was nearly a complete and utter disaster for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) regarding Donald Trump's big, beautiful bill.

After initially having to pull the resolution off the floor, Johnson finally managed to get it passed through a procedural vote, then approved by a mere two votes.

Problems with Tax Cut

A big issue in the spending legislation is Trump's proposed tax cuts. The legislation would require $4.5 trillion to extend the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TJCA), which Trump signed during his first administration.

House Republicans, after promising the American people the debt would be addressed and budget deficits would be no more, were rejecting the legislation because of the massive shortfall to cover spending.

For example, Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN) stated, "Why I am a NO on the current version of the house budget instructions - I have a TRILLION DOLLAR QUESTION - where is the money - $1T? Interesting FACT: roughly 85% of spending is not ever even looked at by Congress - convenient if you would like to hide waste, fraud and abuse.”

There is also a question as to whether programs like Medicaid would face cuts. Donald Trump started calling representatives, and Johnson and his leadership team visited with everyone until they could get the numbers to pass the procedural vote.

First Vote In

With time running out, Johnson had already decided to pull the bill, but after Trump’s calls, he decided to put it back on the floor for a procedural vote, which passed 217-211. Four Democrats and Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) did not vote.

One of the Republicans Johnson was worried about was Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN), but Trump called him personally to discuss the bill and his concerns about Medicaid. Burchett was overheard saying, “Thank you, Mr. President,” and later confirmed that Trump told him he would not be making cuts to Medicaid.

There was still resistance in the House, mostly by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), who was adamant he would not support the bill.

And don’t forget, there were also four Democrats who had not voted in the first round, which could present a challenge for Johnson.

It Passed

Johnson surely had a bit of a panic attack when the Democrats who missed the procedural vote showed up for the final vote. Even so, it passed 217-215, and it will now find its way to the Senate.

After the bill passed, Johnson stated, "We got it done. This is the first important step in opening up the reconciliation process. We have a lot of hard work ahead of us. We are going to deliver the America First agenda."

Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) added, “Trump helped us with a number of members. Look, Trump has been an incredible ally in this whole process. Talking to anybody that we asked that really needed to clarify things. I’m not going to talk about who Trump talked to and what they talked about. I wasn’t privy to those conversations.”

Democrats continue to say the bill represents the largest cut in Medicaid history, but Johnson pushed back that if you search the document, Medicaid is not even mentioned. Now that framework is passed, Johnson still has quite a bit of work to do in order to get this budget on Trump’s desk for his signature within the next two months. It’s a victory, but it is far from an outright win.