In a rare Sunday night vote, the House Budget Committee voted 17-16 to advance the budget reconciliation package, known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” The package was initially voted down 16-21 on Friday, with five House Republicans voting against the package: Representatives Chip Roy (R-TX), Josh Brecheen (R-OK), Andrew Clyde (R-GA), Ralph Norman (R-SC) and Lloyd Smucker (R-PA). Smucker initially voted in favor, but changed his vote late as a procedural move to be able to request the bill be reconsidered (only lawmakers who voted no can make this request).
The package cleared two other significant hurdles last week, after the House Ways & Means and Energy & Commerce Committees each advanced their portions of the bill. The next step for the House Rules Committee to consider the bill, with a rare middle-of-the-night hearing scheduled on Wednesday at 1:00 a.m. ET. If it advances from the Rules Committee, it may be considered on the House floor before the end of the week, meeting the internal deadline set by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-FL) to pass the bill before the Memorial Day recess.
There are still significant disagreements to resolve internally among the Republican caucus. Some Republicans don’t feel the bill goes far enough to address fundamental debt and deficit issues, others are concerned about potential Medicaid cuts, and about a half dozen Republicans from high-tax states are opposed to the State and Local Tax provisions, as the current $10,000 cap will expire at the end of the year without further action. The House Freedom Caucus released a statement last night that the legislation still “does not yet meet the moment.”
Medicaid remains a major point of contention in the bill; as drafted, the package includes broad reductions in federal matching funds (“FMAP”), work requirements for “able-bodied” adults, more frequent eligibility checks, limits on states ability to use provider taxes to finance their portion of Medicaid expenses, and cost sharing for Medicaid expansion enrollees who earn 100%-133% of the federal poverty level. However, it did not include the per capita caps sought by many conservatives, and many were disappointed in the phase-in of the work requirements, currently set to begin in 2029 under the legislation. An analysis by the Congressional Budget Office projects that this proposal would reduce spending by $715 billion and result in 13.7 million Americans losing healthcare coverage.