Good afternoon from Capitol Hill.
The House passed their budget resolution, H. Con. Res. 14, that includes the policy priorities of the Trump administration in one bill. Some House members, including Reps. Warren Davidson, Thomas Massie, Tim Burchett, and Victoria Spartz, were skeptical of the bill. As it was brought to the floor, it was clear that the bill would fail, so leadership yanked it to settle disagreements and negotiate on concerns. Rep. Davidson reportedly received assurances of FY25 cuts, and Rep. Burchett shared that he voted for tax cuts that would help the economy.
The budget resolution is a procedural vote, so what exactly will be cut has not yet been determined, though each authorizing committee is charged with reducing their deficit by an instructed amount. No Democrats voted for the resolution. Speaker Mike Johnson reportedly expects a vote on a completed bill by April. This process is speeding along quickly because of the momentum of the Trump administration. In prior administrations, the reconciliation process has taken much more time.
The Senate worked into the early hours of the morning on February 21st, after a marathon “vote-a-rama,” which allows a maximum of 50 hours of debate on budget resolutions and reconciliation bills. The process took ten hours, finishing at 5 a.m. after 33 amendments and final passage. The bill, S. Con. Res. 7, laid out a $340 billion plan that provides for border enforcement, energy, and military funding. The bill does not include tax cuts and does not increase the debt limit; that would be included in a subsequent bill. The final vote tally was 52-48. The sole Republican detractor, Rand Paul, voted against the measure because he believes the resolution does not align with the promise to reduce spending.
The Senate confirmed Daniel Driscoll, the nominee for secretary of the Army, and Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade representative, last Wednesday. The Senate HELP Committee held a vote on Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s appointment as Secretary of Labor; she advanced with support from three Democrats. Some outside groups criticized her for what they see as pro-labor stances, including support for Democrat bills. Sen. Josh Hawley has pushed back on this criticism and sees a vote for Chavez-DeRemer as a sign of support for union voters who backed Trump and his agenda. Her confirmation vote will occur in the coming weeks. Elbridge Colby, nominated to be Undersecretary of Defense of Policy, may also face pushback from more hawkish senators, and he is meeting with them before his hearings.
Elon Musk’s DOGE stirred controversy in Washington when it sent an email to federal employees, requesting them to list five accomplishments from the previous week. Offices that handle sensitive information, including the FBI, the Director of National Intelligence, the Pentagon, and the State Department, advised employees not to respond to the email.
When asked about it, Musk called the email a “pulse check” on federal workers.
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