Hard-line House Republicans are pressing their Senate GOP colleagues for more information on the amount of spending cuts that will be included in the ultimate bill full of President Trump’s domestic policy priorities, details they are demanding before they can vote to advance a blueprint for the initiative.
The push for particulars — which three sources familiar with the matter confirmed to The Hill — comes as the House vote on the Senate’s framework to advance Trump’s legislative agenda hangs in the balance, with those in the right flank refusing to support the measure over concerns regarding the level of spending cuts.
Members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, led by Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), met with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and other senators in his office Wednesday as the House’s vote on the framework kept getting pushed back. The vote was initially scheduled for around 5:30 p.m.
“We just want to make sure the House and Senate are in the same ballpark,” Harris told lawmakers on his way into Thune’s office.
One of the sources said Harris “would like to see an outline from the Senate on spending reduction and is working to achieve that.”
Reps. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), who is not in the Freedom Caucus but is often aligned with them, were also in attendance.
Perry, a former chair of the Freedom Caucus, said he wanted “answers.”
A different source told The Hill that members “need a framework” for spending cuts before they can back the Senate’s budget resolution on the floor.
“Part of that is the Senate’s got to come up with some guidelines on what they’re gonna do and how they’re gonna get there,” the source said.
“I don’t think they’ll bring it to the floor until this is reconciled,” the source added. “And if they do, that’s above my pay grade, it would fail.”
The source, however, noted that the group is not pushing for changes to the resolution, which would require the measure to go back to the Senate for approval. Instead, they want more information on how much, and where, the Senate is looking to cut spending.
The meeting in Thune’s office came after days of hard-line House lawmakers hammering away at the Senate’s budget resolution, which was meant to be a compromise between the contrasting frameworks each chamber adopted earlier this year.
The House conservatives, however, were incensed that the Senate’s framework included different spending cut minimums for each chamber. House committees are directed to find at least $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, while Senate panels are mandated to slash at least $4 billion in federal spending — a fraction compared to the other chamber’s expectations.
Hard-line House conservatives, convinced that the Senate numbers would reign supreme, staked opposition to the budget resolution.
As the House vote on the budget resolution looms, however, those on the right flank are searching for assurances in order to get on board.
“Trying to figure this out,” Roy told reporters as he entered Thune’s office. “I just need to see the math be math.”
