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CNN
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Speaker Mike Johnson’s budget plan is in trouble as multiple GOP hardliners seek last-minute changes that could risk support from the party’s centrist middle — jeopardizing leadership’s plans to kickstart President Donald Trump’s agenda in Congress.
Just hours after the House GOP’s compromise plan was released, fiscal hawks in the chamber lined up to call for steeper cuts beyond the current reduction target of $1.5 trillion over a decade. But the size of those cuts is already difficult for some GOP centrists to swallow, with Republicans, including Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, still unwilling to say whether they support cuts of that size.
House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington, a Republican from Texas, is projecting confidence. Yet given the backlash from GOP hardliners, it’s not clear if the plan will clear a key committee vote Thursday, let alone a floor vote by month’s end.
“As of right now the votes are not there,” Rep. Andy Ogles, a Tennessee Republican and member of the House Freedom Caucus, told CNN when asked what level of cuts it would take to win his vote. “As it stands, I think it falls short … but it’s work in progress, and we’ll keep working on it.”
Rep. Ralph Norman, a South Carolina Republican who sits on the House Budget Committee that will vote on the measure Thursday, declined to say if he would support it and said he wants to guarantee that the final bill will include policy such as work requirements for Medicaid, as well as an anti-red tape bill called the REINS Act. Three other members of that panel — Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, Tom McClintock of California and Andrew Clyde of Georgia — would not answer when asked how they’d vote on Thursday. A fourth member, Rep. Ben Cline of Virginia, said he is a “lean yes.”
“You’ll find out tomorrow,” Clyde said when asked Wednesday how he would vote on Thursday.
Some signaled that conservatives could make changes to the measure during Thursday’s markup, though they declined to offer details. Rep. Scott Perry, a Pennsylvania Republican and member of the House Freedom Caucus who does not sit on the budget panel, suggested that changes could come during the makeup on Thursday though he wouldn’t offer more details.
“There’s always room for improvement,” Perry said. “We’re not done yet.”
The backlash from GOP hardliners is sharp despite weeks of behind-the-scenes negotiations between Johnson, his leadership team and the right flank of the conference. Rep. Eric Burlison of Missouri called the spending cuts target “pathetic” and said he believes there are at least a half dozen Republicans who agree and would oppose the plan on the floor. That number — given Johnson’s razor-thin margins — is enough to tank the bill.
Rep. Eli Crane, an Arizona Republican and one of his Freedom Caucus counterparts, added: “I’m not happy with the number of cuts.” And another, Rep. Andy Biggs, also of Arizona, told CNN: “I’m still studying it. I bet you can’t tell what the real numbers are any more than I can.”
But Republican allies of leadership believe the budget measure will pass and that it represents a true compromise in the conference.
“The fact that there are some pain points on both ends of the conference, I think, shows that we’re over target,” said Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota, who has been part of the negotiations.
He said, “I think we’re going to work through the legitimate concerns people are raising, and I think we are really well-positioned for success.”
The budget plan requires Republicans to cut at least $1.5 trillion in mandatory spending, with a goal of $2 trillion. But many conservatives say they want to see a specific target of $2 trillion, saying otherwise that extra half-trillion in cuts won’t happen.
Achieving that level of cuts will likely require Republicans to find savings in Medicaid, which has made some centrist-leaning Republicans uneasy. And some are frustrated that ultraconservatives demanded changes to the previous measure, which Speaker Johnson had outlined to GOP lawmakers earlier in the year.
Bacon said he would “keep my powder dry” on how he’ll vote on the resolution but said he preferred Johnson’s earlier budget plan, which had more modest cuts.
“I think the speaker had a better plan,” he said, referring to Johnson’s initial proposal of roughly $1 trillion in cuts. “I wish they would listen to him, the majority leader and the whip and the chairman. They’re all saying the same thing. But we had a couple wise guys who know better than all the leadership,” Bacon told CNN with a laugh.
Bacon added that he believes Trump doesn’t want to “undermine Medicaid” and believes GOP leadership will abide by that.
Rep. Nick LaLota, a New York Republican who met with Johnson earlier Wednesday, told CNN that Republicans need to proceed with caution when it comes to steep cuts to Medicaid and other programs.
“We have to be careful,” LaLota said. “I mean, the president has said he doesn’t want to cut Medicaid, and now it’s up to us in the House and the Senate to figure out how to actually put pen to paper on these important issues.”
CNN’s Annie Grayer, Haley Talbot, Jenna Monnin and Sarah Davis contributed to this report.
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