President Donald J. Trump’s significant bill faced its first challenge and successfully cleared it. On Tuesday evening, the Congressional Budget Resolution (H. Con. Res. 14) was approved by a mainly partisan vote of 217 to 215. This resolution establishes the budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2025 and outlines the budgetary levels for the subsequent years until 2034.
The budget resolution, which includes $4.5 trillion for tax cuts and over $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, met President Trump’s approval. Initially, there was resistance from some members such as Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN), Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN), and Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH), leading to the suspension of the vote. However, after House Speaker Mike Johnson and President Trump persuaded them to change their votes to YES, the vote resumed, with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) as the only Republican voting NO.
During my more than 15 years of covering Congress, I have never witnessed leadership canceling a vote, dismissing lawmakers, and then quickly reversing their decision to proceed with the vote, all occurring in approximately 10 minutes.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) February 26, 2025
On Friday, the Republican majority in the Senate passed their own budget resolution in two parts, the antithesis to what the House just approved.
The Senate’s adoption is an early step in the process, which requires detailed work by committees to work out the details of spending, as well as of any offsets to help pay for the additional funds.
The budget resolution is at odds with the House’s approach, and both chambers ultimately have to be on the same page to get the legislation across the finish line.
