House Republicans narrowly adopted a compromise budget resolution Thursday, allowing them to finally unlock the legislative process they need to actually begin drafting President Trump’s “big, beautiful” agenda package.
The compromise measure cleared the lower chamber in a 216–214 vote, with two Republicans — Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) — opposing it.
Despite the achievement, the GOP still faces a rocky road to getting Trump’s marquee agenda across the finish line due to deep differences on spending.
“We want to make sure we’re delivering on our shared goals in the budget resolution process,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told reporters Thursday morning ahead of the vote. “Our two chambers are directly aligned also on a very important principle: And that is the principle of fiscal responsibility.”
“We’re going to protect the essential programs for everybody that’s eligible to receive those.”
Both the House and Senate needed to adopt the budget resolution to unlock the reconciliation process, which will enable Republicans to bypass the 60-vote threshold needed to break a Democratic filibuster.
Due to the party’s 53-seat Senate majority, reconciliation is critical to the GOP’s odds of getting Trump’s agenda package on tax cuts, energy supply, bolstered defense and border security to the president’s desk.
Senate Republicans had adopted the compromise budget resolution last week.
Republicans in two chambers have been at odds for weeks over how deep to cut spending in the marquee Trump agenda package.
Unable to sort through their differences expeditiously, the Senate opted to adopt its own budget resolution last week that included two sets of instructions: one modeled after the version that cleared the House in February featuring at least $1.5 trillion in cuts and a second specific to the upper chamber with a measly $4 billion of cuts.
