Good afternoon from Capitol Hill.
Last week, President Donald Trump, alongside Elon Musk, signed an executive order implementing a new DOGE initiative within federal agencies to eliminate bloated hiring and spending practices.
The House and Senate were focused on the federal budget as well, as they debated how to cut spending and the deficit, extend the 2017 tax cuts and fund important priorities of President Trump’s agenda, like energy and border security.
In the House, Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington held a markup that lasted over 11 hours on Thursday. After the daylong meeting, the committee passed a budget resolution with a cap of $4.5 trillion in tax cuts over the next ten years, paid for with a minimum of $1.5 trillion in spending cuts. The resolution would also give $110 billion for immigration and border security funding and would raise the debt limit by $4 trillion. In his statement concluding the markup, Rep. Chip Roy stated that he is “proud of what the Chairman has put forward” and that he believes the resolution “is responsible, and I believe that it is a balance of what we’re supposed to do.” The House is out of session until next week, so the timing of a vote has not yet been announced.
The Senate Budget Committee voted 11-10 on their own budget resolution on Wednesday, which includes a slimmer $342 billion budget for energy, border security and the military. Tax cuts would be addressed in a follow-up bill. Majority Leader John Thune has not announced yet when the bill will be brought to the Senate floor for a vote, but Budget Chair Lindsey Graham advocated for a vote this week, beating the House to passage. However, President Trump shared today on Truth Social that he endorses the “one big, beautiful bill” strategy that includes all major priorities. He believes it implements his full agenda..
Thune is prioritizing getting nominees through the confirmation pipeline. Thanks to a grassroots push of support, Tulsi Gabbard was confirmed as Director of National Intelligence, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Howard Lutnick was confirmed yesterday for Secretary of Commerce; he’s the 17th nominee to be confirmed. Kash Patel advanced through the Judiciary Committee with the support of all Republicans on the Judiciary Committee and will be up for a final confirmation vote this week, along with Kelly Loeffler for Administrator of the Small Business Administration. Jamieson Greer, nominee for U.S. trade representative, was voted out of the Senate Finance Committee with the support of all Republican committee members and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, but his confirmation vote has not yet been scheduled.
The Latest From Around The Conservative Movement
- “Wow, whoa, whoa!” CNN expert covered Trump’s high approval ratings and admitted that he’s kept his campaign promises
One More Thing
Rachel Bovard: The Trump administration has thrown open the door to independent media and is giving far more access to the press.