Internal GOP Revolt: House Budget Committee Rejects Trump Agenda Bill

In a surprise move of Capitol Hill politics, the Republican House Budget Committee revolted against a core bill that conforms to the agenda of former President Donald Trump. The defeat of the bill was a rare but heavy loss for both House Speaker Mike Johnson and Republican leadership, with party strife burning under the public eye. The committee has Republicans and Democrats, who voted 21-16 not to proceed further with the legislation, essentially shelving the multitrillion-dollar plan for later.

This vote followed growing discontent in the Republican caucus, with hard-right members opposing what they perceived was not enough fiscal discipline. Four Republicans, Reps. Chip Roy of Texas, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Andrew Clyde of Georgia, and Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma, defected to vote against the bill. Their bipartisan opposition was an expression of a new rift between GOP leadership and members who demand deeper cuts in spending.

Wrapping up loose ends, Pennsylvania Rep. Lloyd Smucker initially voted “yes” before switching to “no” as a procedural strategic move. This left the Republicans with hope of bringing back the bill in future sessions and clinging to hope of a revised proposal.

Rep. Chip Roy, another Freedom Caucus hardliner, launched into an expletive-laced attack on the bill during committee hearings. He argued that while the bill promised to reduce deficits, in its early years it had the opposite effect. “This bill falls profoundly short,” Roy asserted, adding that it front-loads expenditures and back-loads savings – a configuration he found misleading and irresponsible from a fiscal policy perspective. “Shortfalls will rise in the latter half of the 10-year budget period, and we all know that it is so,” he warned, threatening to be a hard “no” unless drastic surgery was undertaken immediately.

While counting votes and clearing rejection, Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Jodey Arrington of Texas ended the session, stating no weekend meetings. The atmosphere slightly lightened when Rep. Glenn Grothman of Wisconsin quipped, “It’s like the last day of third grade. We get to go home.” Hopeful in spite of this, though, Grothman repeated his desire for the bill to be passed, stating, “It has to pass.”

Even after Friday’s loss, there remains no end to the negotiations. The House Budget Committee is to meet again Sunday evening to resuscitate the bill and discuss issues that had already been raised by rogue members. Arrington underscored deadlines and decisions and mentioned, “You can’t do anything in life without having deadlines and decisions. Today was a deadline and a decision.”

To Speaker Mike Johnson, the roll call failure presents serious hurdles to his goal of clearing the bill by Memorial Day. Trump’s support for what he referred to as the “big, beautiful bill” had kept hope alive about its swift passage in the Republican-dominated House. But intraparty tensions, particularly from fiscal conservatives and blue-state Republicans with SALT (State and Local Tax deduction) concerns, have presented difficult challenges.

Rep. Smucker, who switched votes to offer procedural flexibility, talked to reporters and expressed optimism that the committee would reach accord by Monday, which will keep the clock ticking for a full House vote. “There are just a few issues outstanding,” he said. “I think everybody will get to yes.”

At the same time, the Freedom Caucus pledged to work during the weekend. On X (formerly Twitter), the caucus wrote, “Reps. Roy, Norman, Brecheen, Clyde and others continue working in good faith to pass the President’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’. We are not leaving and we will keep working over the weekend.”

The previous President Trump, who was closely following developments, took to Truth Social to criticize so-called “grandstanders” in the GOP. His message was unambiguous: the Republicans have to rally behind the bill or lose the chance to advance the remainder of the conservative agenda. “Republicans MUST UNITE behind, ‘THE ONE, BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL!'” he tweeted. “We don’t need ‘GRANDSTANDERS’ in the Republican Party. STOP TALKING, AND GET IT DONE!

This episode spotlights a deeper issue that has confounded the GOP throughout Trump’s presidency –  how to straddle a more divided party between populist Trump loyalists and traditional conservatives who are worried about unchecked spending. In this case, however, it was not Democrats who were the largest hurdle to getting something through, but Republicans within their own ranks.

Democrats were unanimous in opposition. Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, the committee’s ranking Democrat, foreshadowed this development at the beginning of the hearing. He mocked the party infighting in the GOP and reiterated his party’s opposition to what he referred to as a “bill for billionaires.” Boyle stated, “There is a deep cleavage between Republicans and other Republicans. There is a cleavage between both groups of Republicans and this side of the dais.”

Loss of the lost vote is not going to stop Trump’s legislative push, but it makes it all the more hard. The next few days will be crucial for Republican leadership as they attempt to mend the wounds within their party, re-frame the bill in a format that will satisfy dissidents, and maintain the momentum for what Trump and his base perceive as a historic legislative achievement.

For now, the fate of the “big, beautiful bill” is a mystery. And Washington’s soap opera continues unabated.