WASHINGTON - Republicans have already hit some obstacles when they begin work on making bills for President Donald Trump’s domestic policy agenda. And they haven't even made some of the toughest decisions yet.
The Housing Commission has started a two-week lounge that has begun marking their respective parcels, which aims to expand Trump's 2017 tax cuts, increase funding for immigration enforcement and the military, and increase debt caps. In the pursuit of huge savings payments, Republicans start with some of the lowest fruits when cutting spending.
But the process has sparked some skirmishes among Republican lawmakers and previewed a larger internal battle, such as whether to cut funding for anti-poverty programs like Medicaid — still coming.
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R-Mo, Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Rep. Sam Graves was forced to phase out a rule on its packaging section on Wednesday in the 11th hour, a plan that nearly all passenger planes will create a new $20 annual fee for nearly all passenger planes after the Conservatives fight back.
Also, in the Judiciary Committee, R-Calif. Rep. Darrell Issa's push to codify Trump's proposal as a "gold" visa for wealthy foreigners and was rejected by conservatives who opposed expanding their visa plans.
R-Mich. Chairman Tim Walberg, on the Education and Workforce Commission, pushed for an overhaul of student loan programs on Tuesday that would cut $351 billion in federal spending, which has been criticized by Democrats. The most controversial part of the overhaul, Wahlberg said, is a "risk sharing" clause that will put universities, universities and trade schools in part responsible for the unpaid student loan balances.
“All committees are making tough decisions and we will make this bill,” Rep. R-Texas, chairman of the Republican Research Committee, is the largest caucus on conservatives on Capitol Hill.
House Republicans are now trying to fill in the details after passing on the budget framework for Trump’s “a big bill” earlier this month.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-la. It said he believes the house could piece together all the separate works before Memorial Day and send the parcel to the Senate, an ambitious but not impossible deadline. But that means Republican leaders, committee chairmen and much-benefit members are now having politically tricky conversations about how to pay for the bill and what might be cut.
The views of Republicans are important in the process due to the party’s fragile 220-213 majority.
Majority Leader Steve Scalis (R-La).
Perhaps the toughest question Republicans still need to address is how to deal with potential Medicaid cuts, a strong warning from vulnerable and moderate Republicans.
Energy and Commerce Commission, which oversees the program And responsible for finding $880 billion cuts to the bill, and plans to raise the markup on May 7, but must finalize a portion of its packaging. The committee chair has been meeting with members from the entire ideological range while looking for solutions.
However, even smaller, smaller problems can also spread throughout the process. Vehicle costs were a problem, and the problem unexpectedly blew up at the last minute. The Transport Commission Chairman Graves included the provision in the group’s package to help meet what the committee calls “reconciliation” instructions, which determines what each group needs to cut or allow for spending.
Rep. Scott Perry, R-pa. is the former chairman of the tough liberty caucus, who proposed an amendment to kill it because conservatives see it as a "auto tax." Graves’ team signed in with committee members to measure costs, but it was clear that there were too many oppositions and Graves called Tuesday night to pull it out of the package.
The committee was then forced to find other ways to achieve its savings targets. Now, the package will increase from the initially proposed $200 to $250, increase the annual fee for electric vehicles to $250, and reduce funding for modernizing air traffic control to $12.5 billion, down from the initially proposed $15 billion.
“Electric vehicle owners have not paid anything to the Highway Trust, and now they will pay,” said Rep. Brian Babin of R-Texas. “I’m glad there is no fee for gasoline-powered vehicles, whose owners and drivers have paid a fair share to the Highway Trust through the federal gasoline tax.”
Another Republican debate emerged from the Judiciary Committee. Issa, a senior member of the group, had hoped that the idea of the committee's Markup Trump on Wednesday included a $5 million gold card visa, which would provide immigrants with legal permanent residence and citizenship.
Issa believes the proposal could bring at least an additional $150 billion to pay for the bill. But Isa said that Rep. Chip Roy, another member of the panel, was a member of the far-right freedom caucus R-Texas, who actually rejected the idea.
"I've been screwed up with the Golden Card because some of our members are not increasing revenues related to visas, EB-5 and H-1," Issa said in an interview Wednesday. "The president's view is that we should be able to generate revenue by investing investors, and we have very few plans. By contrast, the chips kill it."
"I would vote for the settlement, but I would be disappointed when it was excluded," Isa added.
Roy did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for the Judiciary Committee suggested that Republicans can still revisit the gold card issue.
"We are walking with the White House and fully support President Trump's agenda," spokesman Russell Dye said in a statement Wednesday.
However, these types of decisions are simple. Hard issues need to be addressed in the coming days and weeks. On Wednesday afternoon, Johnson held a meeting with Republicans from blue states such as New York, New Jersey and California, who are actively pushing for state and local tax (salt) deductions in the package.
The House Ways and Means Committee will meet sometime next week.
“It’s a lively discussion, but we’re still away from the deal,” Rep. Nick Lalota, who left the salt meeting for nearly an hour, said. “I want to make sure we make as many middle-class families as all.”
On Medicaid, Republicans facing tough reelection in the 2026 midterm elections fear that it is mathematically impossible to achieve their spending targets without a significant cut to Medicaid, an estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Republican leaders say they want to target waste, fraud and abuse only in the Medicaid system. Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, Sen. Lindsey Graham, met with House Republicans on Wednesday to reiterate that the Republicans want to impose work requirements on Medicaid eligibility to increase the income needed to fund Trump’s agenda.
"Most Americans would refuse, using Medicaid to help people who are able to work," Graham said. "Medicaid is designed to help the poor and people with disabilities … we have the opportunity to solve this problem. If we fail, I think we will pay a heavy price."