FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday, February 24, 2025
PRESS CONTACT:
esperanza@focalpointstrategygroup.com
Washington, D.C. – Tomorrow, February 25th, the House is scheduled to vote on its budget resolution, which will kick off the reconciliation process toward Republicans’ hoped-for extension of the Trump tax cuts for billionaires. Last week, the Senate narrowly passed its own budget resolution and, while doing so, rejected an amendment from Senator Rand Paul that mirrored the same $1.5 trillion in spending cuts proposed by the House. Only 24 Senate Republicans voted for the Paul amendment (#999).
As House Republicans prepare to vote on their resolution, it’s crucial to recognize that the Senate’s rejection of Senator Paul’s amendment signals that their budget is doomed to fail in the Senate. House Speaker Mike Johnson is advancing a budget that proposes deep – and politically unpopular – cuts to critical programs like Medicaid, SNAP, IRA energy tax credits, and other essential federal programs — a proposal destined to fail in the Senate. House Republicans should be questioning the leadership of Speaker Johnson as they walk the plank for this hollow victory.
Congressional Integrity Project Senior Advisor Charlie Ellsworth issued the following statement on behalf of the Checks and Balances War Room:
“Rank-and-file House Republicans should seriously question what they’re signing up for after their Senate colleagues so thoroughly rejected the House budget’s proposed spending cuts in the Paul amendment. This isn’t just a failure of policymaking — it’s a failure of leadership.
“Speaker Johnson must think tax cuts for billionaires will be the sweetener his caucus needs to vote yes; but his caucus can’t be happy about taking a vote that can and will be used against them for a budget doomed to failure.”