House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-TX) chided House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) for resorting to &#8220;fear-mongering&#8221; when discussing Medicaid in the GOP budget reconciliation budget plan.
On the latest episode of &#8220;Fox News Sunday,&#8221; anchor Shannon Bream played a clip of Jeffries warning about what Republicans intend to do with Medicaid as the House and Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees the program, has been tasked with cutting $850 billion.
&#8220;They want to end Medicaid as we know it,&#8221; Jeffries said. &#8220;They&#8217;re going to hurt children, hurt families, hurt seniors, hurt people with disabilities, close hospitals, shut down nursing homes, and people will die.&#8221;
Arrington dismissed the top House Democrat&#8217;s dire assessment.
&#8220;The question is, will we be susceptible to the fear-mongering and the false rhetoric that you just heard from the Democrat minority leader in the House? And this is the same tired play they run and unfortunately, Republicans haven&#8217;t collectively leaned in and just done the right thing,&#8221; Arrington said.
&#8220;We will be rewarded because we&#8217;re doing this for the sustainability of these programs for the most vulnerable, as well as being fiduciaries for tax dollars,&#8221; he added. &#8220;And this moment will not happen in my political lifetime again, so we have to seize it, do the right thing and go educate and sell what we did to the American people. And the benefits that accrue, I think will come to fruition by the midterms and it will go well for our party.&#8221;
Lawmakers in Congress are working to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-2-0-in-100-days-one-big-beautiful-bill-comes-together" target="_blank" rel="noopener">devise</a> a budget reconciliation bill after passing a blueprint last month. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-2-0-in-100-days-one-big-beautiful-bill-comes-together" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suggested</a> the legislation could be complete by Independence Day.
All the details of the final bill have yet to be ironed out, but President Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted he would not touch Medicaid, along with Medicare and Social Security. Trump also has said fraud and illegal immigrants will be rooted out of the system.
The question of whether Republicans will &#8220;surrender the opportunity to actually bend the curve on entitlement spending and enact entitlement reforms&#8221; was one that, according to Arrington, has him using &#8220;if&#8221; conditional language when discussing the prospect of achieving the framework&#8217;s goals.
&#8220;Because there is a tremendous amount of waste and fraud,&#8221; he said. &#8220;In fact, the Government Accountability Office says upwards of $500 billion over the 10-year budget window just in Medicaid, you&#8217;ve got hundreds of billions siphoned out for other purposes than serving the Medicaid beneficiary,&#8221; he said. &#8220;There is no work requirement for able-bodied adults like there is in every other means-tested welfare program.&#8221;
Arrington continued: &#8220;And, in fact, Medicaid — because we give a higher federal match to able-bodied adult population, this is the Obamacare expansion population — we actually hurt access to the pregnant, blind, disabled, the most vulnerable, the poorest and sickest among our fellow Americans as a result of the structure of the program. We can save over $1.5 trillion without touching a dime of the benefit funding.&#8221;
<iframe loading="lazy" title="&#039;THE SAME TIRED PLAY&#039;: Lawmaker rips Dems for &#039;fear mongering&#039; Medicaid cuts" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mPkJL6XeixA?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Rep. Jodey Arrington

House Budget Chief Slams Hakeem Jeffries For Medicaid ‘Fear-Mongering’

Congress

Hakeem Jeffries

Medicaid

National Debt

Spending Bill

U.S.

U.S. House of Representatives

The Department of Government Efficiency has helped federal agencies terminate 8,500 contracts, saving taxpayers up to $160 billion in the first 100 days of President Donald Trump&#8217;s second term, it says. It also axed nearly 10,000 grants totaling $33 billion, including many from USAID.
It&#8217;s terminated nearly 650 leases, resulting in about $311 million in savings.
That totals about a fifth of the trillion dollars that Elon Musk hoped to cut from the federal budget — though many of the big-ticket savings were costs set to be spread over multiple years. And it remains to be seen whether it can keep cutting at the same pace, or whether the trajectory will slow with low-hanging fruit exhausted.
Musk has said he will soon spend significantly less time on DOGE as he returns focus to his private companies. He is currently classified as a “special government employee,” meaning he can only serve 130 days per year.
Other savings, not included in those figures, are likely to be realized over the long term thanks to process reforms spurred by DOGE. That includes revamping how federal expenditures are tracked, requiring each outlay to have an explanation, and cross-referencing expenditures with other databases to stop fraudulent or disallowed payments.
DOGE’s most important accomplishment may be shaking up Washington&#8217;s culture with a new spirit of optimism and creativity. Its existence has inspired department heads to make bold decisions in their own right. Items that conservatives had criticized for decades, but believed they had no choice but to accept, are now on the table. Some small agencies have been essentially <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/author/luke-rosiak#:~:text=Inside%20The%20Now,By%20Luke%20Rosiak" target="_blank" rel="noopener">abolished outright</a>.
The office is operating out of the organizational skin of the U.S. Digital Service, an entity established by President Barack Obama to bring Silicon Valley talent into government for short-term stints. Obama created the legal structure for the group to operate out of the White House, and set a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-doge-origin-story-how-barack-obama-laid-the-groundwork-for-elon-musk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">precedent of partisanship</a>. The old USDS was so overtly liberal that when The Daily Wire visited its office on the White House complex on February 7, it was taunting the president with a “Hate Has No Home Here” poster in its window.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-913599" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/hate-has-no-home-768x576.jpeg" alt="" width="768" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/hate-has-no-home-768x576.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/hate-has-no-home-300x225.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/hate-has-no-home.jpeg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /></div>
Now renamed the U.S. DOGE Service, it is formally run by Amy Gleason, a healthcare executive who worked at USDS during the first Trump administration.
Many of the contract terminations listed on <a href="https://doge.gov/savings" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DOGE’s website</a> have relied on tech expertise, axing shockingly expensive payments for software to Beltway consulting firms. The biggest contract terminations are:
<ul>
<li>Nearly $3 billion for an “Office of Refugee Resettlement Influx Care Facility” to house “up to 3,000 unaccompanied alien children.” The contract was to Family Endeavors, which hit a contracting jackpot after adding a former Biden administration official to its payroll. Half a million children were separated from their parents because of a loophole that granted them the ability to stay in the United States if they were unaccompanied. The federal government kept the children secret from state child welfare agencies, even though they were vulnerable to sex and labor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/guatemalan-traffickers-exploit-bidens-unaccompanied-alien-children-program-records-suggest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">traffickers</a>, and one-third of unaccompanied minors <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/whistleblowers-detail-how-85000-unaccompanied-minors-went-missing-after-biden-admin-dropped-them-off-with-sponsors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">disappeared</a> after they were sent to live with “sponsors.”</li>
<li>Up to $1.9 billion for a seven-year contract providing technology services to the IRS. The contract to Centennial Technologies was signed in August 2024, and no money was spent before it was cancelled, according to federal records. In the last 10 years, Centennial has been listed as receiving only $15 million in government contracts.</li>
<li>Up to $1.7 billion to A1FedImpact LLC for tech work for the Defense Health Agency. Federal contracting records list the potential total as $2.4 billion.</li>
<li>A $1 billion contract to Securigence LLC, another government IT company in the Virginia suburbs outside Washington, D.C., was cut in half. The contract was for “multi-network support services” for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.</li>
<li>A proposed $318 million contract to the Office of Personnel Management for “human resources related products and services” was cancelled before it was awarded.</li>
</ul>
The largest grants cancelled were:
<ul>
<li>$2.6 billion from USAID to the Gavi Foundation for “the global community’s Immunization Agenda 2030, which was endorsed by the World Health Assembly in May 2020.” Nearly a billion dollars was spent before it was cancelled.</li>
<li>A $1.5 billion contract from the Department of Health and Human Services to Texas was cut in half, with no details provided.</li>
<li>Most of the money from a $1 billion USAID grant to the World Health Organization for “polio and immunization” was halted before it went out the door.</li>
<li>Nearly half a billion was shaved off a $1.5 billion grant to Public Health Foundation Enterprises, Inc., operating as Heluna Health. Since 1998, the nonprofit had received a few million per year from the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health, operating as a pass-through that sends the money to other groups performing public health research or interventions. In 2020, that jumped to half a billion, and nearly $3 billion in 2021.</li>
</ul>
In other ways, DOGE has fallen short of its hopes, sometimes after running into the buzz-saw of institutional Washington. Courts, appeals panels, unions, and government rules have all bogged down attempts to implement layoffs or access government data.
The “Fork in the Road” buyouts offered to federal employees to reduce salary expenses — modeled after the choice Musk offered to Twitter employees after acquiring the company, were underwhelming — with fewer employees accepting the offer than would typically retire or leave government on their own in a given year.
Thousands of employees who didn’t accept the buyout have since been targeted with “reduction in force” layoffs, but some have been ordered reinstated by courts, and are now on paid leave. Federal personnel rules, which the Office of Personnel Management has not moved to rewrite, give strong deference to employees with the longest tenure, and could wind up pushing low-paid junior employees out of the workforce, while <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-laying-off-dei-employees-could-backfire-thanks-to-bizarre-federal-rules?author=Luke+Rosiak&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=13&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=How+Laying+Off+DEI+Employees+Could+Backfire+Thanks+To+Bizarre+Federal+Rules" target="_blank" rel="noopener">keeping more highly compensated</a> and deeply entrenched ones — sometimes doing junior work at senior salaries.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-doge-origin-story-how-barack-obama-laid-the-groundwork-for-elon-musk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A DOGE Origin Story: How Barack Obama Laid The Groundwork For Elon Musk</a>
Katie Miller, a spokesperson for DOGE, declined to provide The Daily Wire with a list of DOGE’s top accomplishments or comment on whether it is on track.
Ultimately, savings will only reduce the deficit if Congress aggressively slashes annual funding to agencies or passes “recision” packages that claw back money that was previously appropriated.
DOGE earned the support of the American people, even though its cuts could be painful, because Musk made a compelling case that spending money we don’t have was irresponsible and would lead to a debt bomb where a significant portion of federal expenditures did nothing more than pay interest on past debt. But Republicans may weaken that justification, and imperil support for DOGE, by passing a budget that makes the deficit grow even faster, thanks to military spending increases and tax cuts that more than cancel out any spending savings.
So far, the Republican-led government has not returned spending to pre-pandemic levels, much less cut it below that baseline. Between 2015 and 2018, the government spent about $5 trillion a year, according to the <a href="https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/federal-spending/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Treasury Department</a>. That jumped to $8 trillion in 2020 and 2021, and $7 trillion in 2024.
According to the <a href="https://www.crfb.org/blogs/whats-senates-concurrent-fy-2025-budget" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget</a>, the Republican-led Senate’s plan for a 2025 budget would allow legislators to add $5.8 trillion to deficits over the next nine years, and require only 0.005% of projected spending through 2034 to be cut in order to pay down the deficit.
It said the Senate plan’s lack of spending reductions coupled with its tax breaks means that it would be worse for the deficit than major welfare programs and Joe Biden&#8217;s American Rescue Plan, and that the <a href="https://www.crfb.org/blogs/2025-reconciliation-tracker" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Senate plan</a> would cut only a few billion from Democrat priorities like urban affairs, while adding hundreds of billions in deficit spending to Republican priorities like the military.
The Daily Wire has outlined remaining opportunities for savings, including:
<ul>
<li>Reform food stamps to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/why-can-food-stamps-buy-junk-food-how-doge-could-save-billions-and-maha?author=Luke+Rosiak&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=70&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Why+Can+Food+Stamps+Buy+Junk+Food%3F+How+DOGE+Could+Save+Billions+And+MAHA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">exclude junk food and corner stores</a></li>
<li>Abolish the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/job-corps-spends-764k-per-graduate?author=Luke+Rosiak&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Federal+%E2%80%98Job+Corps%E2%80%99+Spends+Up+To+%24764K+Per+Graduate.+Participants+Go+On+To+Earn+%2417K+Annually." target="_blank" rel="noopener">$2 billion Job Corps</a></li>
<li>Reform <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/activist-judges-rubber-stamp-billions-in-suspect-social-security-disability-claims" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Social Security’s disability program</a></li>
<li>Abolish all <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-zealand-scrapped-all-social-science-funding-trump-could-too?author=Luke+Rosiak&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=34&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=New+Zealand+Scrapped+All+%E2%80%98Social+Science%E2%80%99+Funding.+Trump+Could+Too." target="_blank" rel="noopener">“social science” funding</a></li>
</ul>

Untitled design (26)

100 Days Of DOGE: Elon Musk’s Initiative Says It Cut $200 Billion. What’s Next?

Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)

Senate

One of the biggest victories of President Donald Trump&#8217;s first 100 days <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hold-trump-scores-big-beautiful-victory-house-budget-vote" target="_blank" rel="noopener">came</a> when Congress passed a budget reconciliation framework, paving the way for his domestic agenda in a single, comprehensive bill. The measure — which the president has dubbed &#8220;one big, beautiful bill&#8221; — aims to extend tax cuts, enhance border security, and boost national defense.
The budget reconciliation process allows for more streamlined consideration of legislation pertaining to the federal budget. With it, the Senate requires only a simple majority — 51 votes — to pass a bill that gets developed after Congress passes a blueprint for how to proceed, bypassing the three-fifths majority threshold needed to overcome a filibuster. Currently, Senate Republicans hold a 53-seat majority.
Before taking office in January, Trump expressed his preference for passing a single bill, <a href="https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1876089056817455175?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1876089056817455175%7Ctwgr%5E00f92e1a263f9d2933e2e879f4433950b013a16b%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsweek.com%2Fdonald-trump-vows-one-powerful-bill-pass-major-maga-policies-2010106" target="_blank" rel="noopener">arguing</a> that such a &#8220;powerful&#8221; measure would &#8220;bring our Country back, and make it greater than ever before,&#8221; and would be offset by tariffs in response to countries he says have been taking advantage of the United States for years.
Each chamber of Congress charted a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/two-ways-about-it-house-and-senate-chart-different-paths-for-trump-budget-priorities-and-tax-cuts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">different</a> course, at least initially.
The Senate took a two-step approach, wherein one bill would address budget priorities while leaving tax cuts for a future measure. But House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) opted to pursue legislation with everything in one package.
Reaching the finish line first, the Senate <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-passes-late-night-budget-bill-focused-on-border-defense-spending" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed</a> a $340 billion budget resolution tackling immigration and border security, defense, and energy in early February. The House ignored the Senate framework and later that month <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trumps-one-big-beautiful-budget-vision-clears-house-in-massive-victory-for-mike-johnson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">advanced</a> its own plan that would not leave the tax cuts for a future piece of legislation.
In the weeks that followed, the Senate essentially abandoned its two-step plan and pressed ahead with taking up the House resolution. Unlike the House, the Senate has to contend with the <a href="https://x.com/AndrewDesiderio/status/1905623315378471013" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Byrd Rule</a> for budget reconciliation, which constrains the upper chamber to focus solely on fiscal measures such as extending tax cuts and raising the debt ceiling while stripping out non-budgetary provisions.
What ultimately passed through the Senate was an amended framework that seeks to retain the 2017 tax cuts set to expire this year, raise the debt ceiling by $5 trillion, and increase spending on border security and defense. It also includes several billion dollars in spending reductions — far less than the more than $2 trillion goal in the original House resolution.
The lesser spending-reduction goals that made it into the Senate&#8217;s version proved to be disagreeable for several House conservatives, though Republican leadership managed to overcome the resistance. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) had offered his assurances that the upper chamber would strive to become &#8220;aligned&#8221; with the House in terms of savings. And, on April 10, the framework narrowly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hold-trump-scores-big-beautiful-victory-house-budget-vote" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed</a> the House, with two Republicans casting their no votes alongside 212 Democrats.
Although Democrats who oppose the budget plan <a href="https://x.com/HouseDemocrats/status/1909984102641512926" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claim</a> that it could lead to $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid and benefit the wealthy, Trump has <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/03/fact-check-president-trump-will-always-protect-social-security-medicare/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">insisted</a> he would not touch Medicaid, Medicare, or Social Security. He has, however, said fraud and illegal immigrants will be rooted out of the system. The president has also pushed for a number of tax cuts that could help Americans in the middle and lower-income brackets. Among his ideas are eliminating taxes on tips and <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114410073592204291" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reducing</a> income taxes for people making less than $200,000 a year.
The &#8220;big, beautiful bill&#8221; is coming together under the shadow of a national debt that is <a href="https://www.usdebtclock.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">approaching</a> $37 trillion.
Trump&#8217;s administration has engaged in a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effort led by tech executive Elon Musk, which <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-significantly-cut-back-doge-time" target="_blank" rel="noopener">says</a> its “estimated savings” have reached $160 billion amid cuts to programs and jobs across the federal bureaucracy. The White House also unleashed &#8220;Liberation Day&#8221; tariffs, with which the president contends he is trying to dismantle unfair trade practices. And yet another stopgap bill to avert a partial government shutdown — this one lasting for six months — was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-officially-sends-funding-bill-to-trumps-desk-after-dems-cave" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed</a> and signed by Trump in March.
Negotiators are now working on putting together the budget reconciliation legislation, using the amended resolution as a guide.
&#8220;It’s a complicated piece of legislation. I think it can be and probably will be one of the most consequential pieces of legislation ever passed by the United States Congress,&#8221; Speaker Johnson told host Will Cain in a Fox News <a href="https://x.com/SpeakerJohnson/status/1915179044288815247" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview</a> last week, adding later, &#8220;Here&#8217;s the update. What you&#8217;ll see over the next four weeks is the pieces, the various components of that big bill, rolling out of these committees. You&#8217;ll have committee markups scheduled and all those 11 committees successively over the four weeks. And you&#8217;re going to see this thing come together.&#8221;
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested the legislation could be complete by Independence Day following a gathering on Monday of the so-called &#8220;Big Six,&#8221; which includes himself, White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, Johnson, Thune, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID), and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO).
&#8220;We had another successful &#8216;Big Six&#8217; meeting today, and we hope to have a tax bill done by the Fourth of July,&#8221; Bessent <a href="https://x.com/SecScottBessent/status/1916968595650695616" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a post on X. &#8220;The House is moving things along quickly, and the Senate is in lockstep. I&#8217;m happy to announce that they are in substantial agreement and that this is going to be a very big, pro-growth win for the American people.&#8221;

Donald Trump Delivers Joint Address To Congress

Trump 2.0 In 100 Days: ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill’ Comes Together

Budget

Donald Trump

Here&#8217;s a headline that, if you&#8217;ve been making car insurance payments over the last few years, might seem pretty hard to believe. It turns out that average auto insurance premiums actually declined in March, month-over-month. Yes, for many people, premiums have gotten cheaper, even as car prices have remained high. Inflation has seemingly been defeated, at least in this particular industry. The declines were particularly steep in Florida, where insurers like Geico, Progressive and State Farm are cutting rates by as much as 10%. But there&#8217;s no question that this is a nationwide phenomenon. Insurance rates are down by roughly 1% across the board — which might not sound like a lot, but it&#8217;s a big difference from the typical double-digit increases that we&#8217;ve been seeing lately. When you go from 15-point average increases to a 1% decrease, you&#8217;re saving a lot of money, relatively speaking.
So why is this happening, exactly? Ask ten different people and you&#8217;ll probably get ten different answers. And all of them might be right, at least partially. But here&#8217;s one theory. It could be that insurance rates are going down because our roads are getting safer. And maybe our roads are getting safer because two grand Left-wing experiments — the BLM &#8220;de-policing&#8221; movement and the open borders agenda — have both finally come to an end.
Each of these movements clearly made driving significantly more dangerous, in their own way. Beginning in 2020, of course, BLM convinced police departments to stop enforcing laws — including traffic laws. And the effect was immediate. By one estimate, 35% more black people died in motor vehicle accidents in 2021, as compared with 2019. In other words, a lot of black motorists suddenly realized that they could drive however they wanted. They&#8217;d no longer be pulled over for supposedly &#8220;driving while black,&#8221; which was something they imagined was happening all the time. And they took full advantage of the situation. Insurance companies had to deal with the carnage that followed.
Along the same lines, as we&#8217;ve <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezo_P2uRNWY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">discussed</a> before, the flood of illegal aliens into this country under the Biden administration has led to a lot of drunk-driving collisions, which have wiped out entire families in some cases. Many of these illegal aliens don&#8217;t have driver&#8217;s licenses, and they refuse to obey the rules of the road. In the tiny town of Springfield, for example, one resident recently <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/09/12/us-news/influx-of-wild-driving-haitian-migrants-turning-streets-of-springfield-ohio-into-combat-zone/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">estimated</a> that she sees 8 to 10 traffic accidents per day. Haitian migrants, which now make up around one-third of the population, routinely drive into buildings and onto sidewalks. They&#8217;ve mowed down children and elderly women, with total impunity. One of these Haitian migrants <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/09/12/us-news/influx-of-wild-driving-haitian-migrants-turning-streets-of-springfield-ohio-into-combat-zone/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ran over</a> Kathy Heaton, a 71-year-old grandmother, while she was collecting her garbage cans. She died in the street, after an impact that was so severe that her socks were literally removed from her feet. The driver wasn&#8217;t even prosecuted.
This era of impunity is now over. Police departments are no longer being overrun with BLM mobs. Border security is being enforced again. The result is that the prices that American citizens have to pay — both in terms of dollar amounts, and lives that are lost — are coming down. It turns out that, when you have a society that enforces laws, everyone benefits.
The White House seems to understand this. That&#8217;s why, every other day, we&#8217;re hearing about a new plan to reduce the cost of these kinds of externalities for Americans.
Here&#8217;s the latest example. The New York Times is now <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/us/politics/migrants-deport-social-security-doge.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&amp;referringSource=articleShare" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reporting</a> that the Trump administration is canceling the Social Security numbers of foreign nationals who, for one reason or another, were allowed into this country during Joe Biden&#8217;s presidency:
<blockquote>The Trump administration has moved aggressively to revoke the temporary legal status of hundreds of thousands of immigrants who were allowed into the country under President Biden. &#8230; Now, the administration is taking drastic steps to pressure some of those immigrants and others who had legal status to “self-deport” by effectively canceling the Social Security numbers they had lawfully obtained. &#8230; The goal is to cut those people off from using crucial financial services like bank accounts and credit cards, along with their access to government benefits.</blockquote>
According to the Times, thousands of &#8220;convicted criminals and suspected terrorists&#8221; are among the foreign nationals who just had their Social Security numbers revoked. Yes, apparently the Biden administration provided &#8220;convicted criminals and suspected terrorists&#8221; with Social Security numbers, so that they could obtain government benefits. The Biden administration determined that this course of action was preferable to just deporting these people, or throwing them in prison. Now the Trump administration is changing that policy.
Again, this will have the effect of reducing payments by taxpayers to people who shouldn&#8217;t even be here. It will also make our roads and our communities a lot safer, in all likelihood. More than anything else, this is what Americans voted for in the last election. If Republicans are going to remain in power in Washington, and avoid a Democrat takeover of Congress in the midterms next year, then this kind of thing has to continue. And more importantly, Congress has to start supporting it. That&#8217;s how we can ensure that the cost of living will continue dropping.
A large part of that equation is reducing government spending, which Congress controls. As we all know, when the government spends trillions of dollars every year, that money is either coming from taxpayers, or it&#8217;s being printed and borrowed (which reduces the value of the money we&#8217;re all holding). Either way, we&#8217;re losing a lot of money in the process. At the moment, it appears that a small contingent of Republican lawmakers in Congress recognizes that this arrangement needs to change, at least to some degree. They just held out for assurances that the next spending bill will slash one-point-five trillion dollars from the budget. And after a lot of hand-wringing, they apparently received those assurances. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="001 budget framework resolution" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fnwMlNZgVZ8?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
So there were two plans here, for a spending bill to fund the government. The Senate plan, which passed over the weekend, would only reduce the deficit by around four billion dollars. That&#8217;s basically nothing compared to the new House framework, which demands a minimum of one-point-five trillion dollars in deficit reduction.
But here&#8217;s the problem: Even this new framework isn&#8217;t binding. It just sets a broad outline for future negotiations between the House and Senate, which still need to finalize a budget. And several members of Congress — most notably Thomas Massie of Kentucky — believe that this deal is worth about as much as the paper it&#8217;s printed on. Thomas Massie has been in office for more than a decade, and he understands how Congress works. He knows that it&#8217;s one thing for lawmakers to promise spending cuts. But it&#8217;s a completely different matter for them to agree on a bill that actually cuts spending. Here&#8217;s what Massie told a reporter after the framework was announced:
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What&#8217;s surprising here isn&#8217;t anything Thomas Massie is saying. What&#8217;s surprising is that so few Republicans in Congress are agreeing with him. The reason voters elected Republicans to control both chambers of Congress, along with the White House, is that they want government spending and the cost of living to come down. That&#8217;s one of the top issues in every exit poll. And now that Donald Trump is doing that — or attempting to do it — Congress is refusing to codify any of his cuts into law. If a Democrat becomes president, he could override all these DOGE cuts in a day-one executive order.
And by the way, no matter what you think of Trump&#8217;s tariffs, Massie makes a good point. Why hasn&#8217;t Congress held a vote on them? Tariffs are a form of taxation. They have the potential to significantly raise the cost of goods in the United States, among other effects. Under the Constitution, Congress has the power to tax. Even if you approve of the tariffs, you should still want Congress to vote on them, for the simple reason that they&#8217;ll be harder to overturn in a future administration. On the other hand, if you&#8217;re skeptical of tariffs, a congressional vote would allow for a full debate on the issue. Instead of unilateral announcements from the White House, we&#8217;d be able to hear the arguments on each side.
But the GOP leadership in Congress hasn&#8217;t displayed any interest in holding a vote on tariffs. In fact they&#8217;ve blocked a vote on the topic. And they haven&#8217;t held votes on the DOGE cuts or any other significant spending cuts. In fact, they still haven&#8217;t reined in any of the trillion dollars&#8217; worth of spending in the so-called Inflation Reduction Act, which was full of giveaways to environmentalist groups and NGOs. Why exactly hasn&#8217;t any of that waste been rolled back? Why is no one bothered to even talk about it? Really congress has not codified any of Trump’s executive orders at all, which means they’re all susceptible to being overturned with the stroke of a pen by the next administration. Where is congress?
When it comes to spending, if you ask Missouri Congressman Eric Burlison, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, he&#8217;ll say that Republicans aren&#8217;t actually serious about cutting spending. Like Massie, he thinks the spending cuts will never actually happen. Here&#8217;s what he said:
<blockquote>I think that this town has got a lot of snakes in the grass who don&#8217;t want to accomplish it, and anyway that they can they&#8217;re going to stop it from happening. And I want to ensure we don&#8217;t end up in a place where we let the president down in that regard.</blockquote>
Whatever Donald Trump makes of the deal, at the moment, it looks like Republican voters might be let down. We&#8217;re talking about raising the debt ceiling by a historic amount, and potentially spending more than the Biden administration ever did. And we&#8217;re doing it at a time when we&#8217;re initiating a broader trade war, which means that we&#8217;ll have less access to money to borrow. This is not a recipe for a stable economic situation going forward. In separate interviews, Thomas Massie and Congressman Jodey Arrington of Texas outlined what&#8217;s at stake here. Watch:
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Even if you listen to that rhetoric and conclude that it&#8217;s overblown, or that there&#8217;s really no cause for concern, the fundamental point remains: Republicans ran on a platform that involved lowering the cost of living, which includes lowering taxes and government spending. If Republicans cannot deliver on that very simple promise, they will not be in power for very long. And they will be replaced by a party that&#8217;s even more committed to more taxes and government spending. 
This particular spending bill won&#8217;t be finalized for several weeks, in all likelihood. Between now and the moment this legislation is finalized, it&#8217;s hard to imagine that anything in Congress is more important than holding GOP leadership to their promise on these spending cuts — and pushing them further, for as many cuts as possible. If Republicans (and their voters) stay focused on that goal, they will have achieved something that the party has promised for decades, but failed to deliver. They will have permanently reduced the size of the American government, for the benefit of everyone living in this country. The White House is clearly committed to this goal. Now it&#8217;s time for every Republican in Congress — not just Thomas Massie and a few others — to follow suit.

House Tax Cut Fumble Shows Big Hurdles For GOP

Congress Needs To Act On This Very Important Issue Right Now

Biden Administration

DOGE

Federal Government

Joe Biden

Matt Walsh

Mike Johnson

Opinion

President Trump

Republicans

Social Security

Thomas Massie

In a major triumph for President Donald Trump, the GOP-led House passed a budget plan on Thursday morning that lays the groundwork for his domestic priorities in &#8220;one big, beautiful bill,&#8221; overcoming resistance from a group of conservatives disappointed by a lack of deeper spending cuts.
The amended <a href="https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/senate_amendment_h_con_res_14.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resolution</a>, already cleared by the Senate, provides a blueprint for lawmakers to craft legislation via the budget reconciliation process. Negotiations with GOP holdouts in the House stretched to the last moment, and <a href="https://x.com/cspan/status/1910350835969638674" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ultimately,</a> 216 Republicans and no Democrats voted in favor of the measure. Two Republicans and 212 Democrats voted against it.
President Trump immediately <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114314374220244880">responded</a> on Truth Social: &#8220;Congratulations to the House on the passage of a Bill that sets the stage for one of the Greatest and Most Important Signings in the History of our Country,&#8221; he wrote. &#8220;Among many other things, it will be the Largest Tax and Regulation Cuts ever even contemplated. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!&#8221;
The resolution seeks to retain the 2017 tax cuts set to expire this year, raise the debt ceiling by $5 trillion, and increase spending on border security and defense. It also includes several billion dollars in spending reductions — far less than the more than $2 trillion goal in the original resolution narrowly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trumps-one-big-beautiful-budget-vision-clears-house-in-massive-victory-for-mike-johnson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed</a> by the House in February.
When taking up the initial House resolution, the <a href="https://x.com/AndrewDesiderio/status/1905623315378471013" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Byrd Rule</a> constrained the Senate to focus solely on fiscal measures like extending tax cuts and raising the debt ceiling while stripping out non-budgetary provisions. The lesser spending-reduction goals that made it into the Senate&#8217;s amended version proved to be disagreeable for several House conservatives.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) held a joint press conference with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Thursday morning before the vote to assuage the concerns of the House GOP holdouts.
&#8220;Our ambition in the Senate is we are aligned with the House in terms of what their budget resolution outlined in terms of savings,&#8221; Thune <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlwW0Zf-l9w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;The speaker has talked about one and a half trillion dollars. We have a lot of United States senators who believe that is a minimum.&#8221;
On Tuesday evening, following a meeting at the White House with House Republicans, Trump chided the Republicans who still opposed the budget framework during remarks at the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) dinner in Washington, D.C.
&#8220;Just in case there are a couple of Republicans out there: you just gotta get there. Close your eyes and get there. It’s a phenomenal bill. Stop grandstanding,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/stop-grandstanding-trump-tells-gop-holdouts-in-budget-revolt" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. He also <a href="https://grabien.com/story?id=522138" target="_blank" rel="noopener">warned</a> that those pushing for &#8220;a little bit more&#8221; would &#8220;end up getting a Democrat bill or worse.&#8221;
There had been as many as a few dozen GOP holdouts earlier in the week, but in the end, Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Victoria Spartz (R-IN) were the only House Republicans to vote against the Senate plan.
&#8220;If you were trying to hasten financial collapse of our country and bribe voters to go along with it, the strategy wouldn’t look much different than what Congress is doing today,&#8221; Massie <a href="https://x.com/RepThomasMassie/status/1910338145826091429" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a post on X. &#8220;The big beautiful bill cuts taxes while keeping spending on an increasingly unsustainable trajectory.&#8221;
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), one of the most vocal critics among House conservatives of the Senate’s budget resolution amendment, ended up supporting it.
In a lengthy <a href="https://x.com/RepChipRoy/status/1910376175450411382" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> posted on X, Roy said he &#8220;reluctantly&#8221; voted for the resolution &#8220;on the basis of three specific commitments&#8221; related to spending cuts. He alluded to Trump&#8217;s <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114304634655292901" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a> desire for more than $1 trillion in reductions as one assurance. Roy also noted the budget reconciliation effort provides &#8220;the opportunity for Congress to simply make a down payment on our $36 trillion national debt.&#8221;
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🚨 REP. ROY STATEMENT ON THE PASSAGE OF THE BUDGET RESOLUTION🚨
&quot;Today, I reluctantly voted for the Senate amendment to the House Budget Resolution on the basis of three specific commitments that form the floor for my consideration of the final reconciliation package.
First,…
&mdash; Rep. Chip Roy Press Office (@RepChipRoy) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepChipRoy/status/1910376175450411382?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 10, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Democrats who oppose the budget plan have <a href="https://x.com/HouseDemocrats/status/1909984102641512926" target="_blank" rel="noopener">warned</a> that it could lead to $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid while benefiting the wealthy.
&#8220;House Republicans want to cut $880 billion from Medicaid to pay for tax breaks for billionaires,&#8221; the House Democrats <a href="https://x.com/HouseDemocrats/status/1909984102641512926" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a post on X. &#8220;One thing is clear: The Republican Budget will leave hardworking American families worse off.&#8221;
The resolution does call on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which oversees Medicaid, to work on reducing the deficit by at least $880 billion over the next 10 years. However, it does not have instructions that explicitly say Medicaid is a target for cutting.
&#8220;Democrats are purposefully terrifying the everyday Americans they profess to care about,&#8221; the GOP-led House Rules Committee <a href="https://x.com/RulesReps/status/1910056694236819894" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on X. &#8220;Why? For political gain. We&#8217;d tell them to read the resolution, but they already know there isn&#8217;t any targeting of specific programs.&#8221;
A pair of Republicans, Reps. David Valadao (R-CA) and Bob Onder (R-MO), did not cast votes for the budget plan on Thursday. Rep. Donald Norcross (D-NJ), who recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-dem-suffers-emergency-medical-event" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suffered</a> an &#8220;emergency medical event,&#8221; also did not vote. Two seats remained vacant after Reps. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and Sylvester Turner (D-TX) died last month. Special elections are scheduled for later this year.
The White House has <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/03/fact-check-president-trump-will-always-protect-social-security-medicare/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published</a> a &#8220;fact check&#8221; page on its website highlighting Trump saying on multiple occasions that he would not mess with Medicaid, along with Medicare and Social Security, while noting that fraud and illegal immigrants would be rooted out from the system.
Before the Senate <a href="https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1191/vote_119_1_00191.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed</a> its version of the budget framework over the weekend, it held an overnight &#8220;vote-a-rama&#8221; with several amendment votes. During that process, the upper chamber rejected a Democrat amendment to remove the section that has stoked concerns about a potential $880 billion cut to Medicaid. Three Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Josh Hawley (R-MO), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) — joined with Democrats and independents <a href="https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1191/vote_119_1_00189.htm#position" target="_blank" rel="noopener">voting</a> in favor of the change.
Now, with the budget framework approved by both chambers of Congress, lawmakers will work on developing legislation.
Under the budget reconciliation process, the Senate requires only a simple majority — or 51 votes — to pass whatever bill is devised, bypassing the three-fifths majority threshold needed to overcome a filibuster. Currently, the Senate GOP has a 53-47 majority.
Speaker Johnson <a href="https://x.com/SpeakerJohnson/status/1908619838915817864" target="_blank" rel="noopener">emphasized</a> in a post on X on Saturday that the budget resolution is not the law itself but only the &#8220;necessary kickoff&#8221; for the reconciliation process to begin. He said the &#8220;amended resolution in NO WAY prevents us from achieving our goals in the final reconciliation bill&#8221; and noted the process would &#8220;involve input from all Members and will keep us on track to send a bill to the President’s desk by Memorial Day.&#8221;
The White House released a policy <a href="https://x.com/WHOMB/status/1910050176787526124" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> that said Trump&#8217;s administration &#8220;strongly supports&#8221; the Senate plan, which it linked to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effort.
&#8220;President Trump has demonstrated through numerous concrete actions his firm commitment to cutting wasteful spending,&#8221; the statement said. &#8220;This resolution aligns with his mission by paving the way for historic cuts to root out rampant waste, fraud, and abuse across the Federal Government, while responsibly addressing the debt extension.&#8221;

Speaker Mike Johnson and President Trump

Trump Scores ‘Big, Beautiful’ Victory With House Budget Vote

Chip Roy

On Tuesday evening, President Donald Trump told House Republican holdouts to &#8220;stop grandstanding&#8221; and support a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/speaker-johnson-backs-senate-budget-plan-key-trump-one-big-beautiful-bill" target="_blank" rel="noopener">budget plan</a> that lays the groundwork for his &#8220;one big, beautiful bill.&#8221;
Trump spoke at the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) dinner in Washington, D.C.
&#8220;We had a great meeting today. I think we are there. But just in case there are a couple of Republicans out there: you just gotta get there. Close your eyes and get there. It’s a phenomenal bill. Stop grandstanding,&#8221; Trump said.
He also <a href="https://grabien.com/story?id=522138" target="_blank" rel="noopener">argued</a>: “If we slash taxes on American workers and producers, our economy will soar, jobs will surge, manufacturing will boom, and our country will prosper like never ever before. We got to get this big, beautiful deal done, we got to get it done. And get it done now, don’t wait two weeks. Don’t wait two weeks. Bad things happen. Crazy things happen in politics, just get the damn thing done and stop showboating. A couple of people want to — sir, we got to get a little bit more. A little bit more? You know what you’re going to get? You end up getting nothing. You end up getting a Democrat bill or worse.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Trump tells Republicans to &#39;close their eyes and stop grandstanding&#39; and vote for his budget bill <a href="https://t.co/eUm3ucv8DF">pic.twitter.com/eUm3ucv8DF</a>
&mdash; FactPost (@factpostnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/factpostnews/status/1909758702543831411?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 9, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Trump’s comments at the NRCC dinner followed a White House meeting with House Republicans where they discussed the amended budget reconciliation framework passed by the GOP-led Senate that seeks to extend the 2017 tax cuts set to expire this year, raise the debt ceiling by $5 trillion, and increase spending on border security and defense.
The resolution, which must be accepted by both chambers of Congress in order for committees to draft actual legislation under the reconciliation process, also includes several billion dollars in spending reductions — far less than the over $2 trillion goal in the plan narrowly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trumps-one-big-beautiful-budget-vision-clears-house-in-massive-victory-for-mike-johnson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">approved</a> by the House in February.
While the <a href="https://x.com/AndrewDesiderio/status/1905623315378471013" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Byrd Rule</a> constrained the Senate to focus solely on fiscal measures like extending tax cuts and raising the debt ceiling while stripping out non-budgetary provisions, the gap in spending-reduction targets has frustrated some House Republicans, who might join Democrats to derail the resolution.
Despite pressure from Trump, not all House conservatives have been swayed.
POLITICO <a href="https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/04/08/congress/inside-the-white-house-budget-meeting-00279295" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that Rep. Ron Estes (R-KS) said after the White House meeting on Tuesday that he would support the Senate version of the blueprint, but Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) remained unmoved after attending.
“Why am I voting on a budget based on promises that I don’t believe are going to materialize?&#8221; Roy said.
The Hill <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5239012-trump-budget-resolution-house-conservatives-johnson/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a> that Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN), another conservative who opposes the Senate-backed budget resolution, said he would be &#8220;surprised&#8221; if the framework as amended made it to the House floor for a vote.
&#8220;There’s so many ‘no’ votes. It’s 30, 40. And what typically happens in this type of scenario, when you hit a critical mass, suddenly more people go ahead and vote their conscience. And so 30 can easily become 50,&#8221; he said, adding, &#8220;It&#8217;s nowhere close.&#8221;
Under the budget reconciliation process, the Senate requires only a simple majority — or 51 votes — to pass a bill, bypassing the three-fifths majority threshold needed to overcome a filibuster. Currently, the Senate GOP has a 53-47 majority.
If enough House Republicans rebel, the budget reconciliation process could grind to a halt. House GOP leadership can afford to lose a few Republicans if all Democrats oppose the resolution. Currently, there are 220 Republicans and 213 Democrats in the lower chamber.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) <a href="https://x.com/SpeakerJohnson/status/1909741652974903589" target="_blank" rel="noopener">emphasized</a> in a press conference on Tuesday that the Senate framework &#8220;makes no changes to the reconciliation instructions that we put into the budget resolution.&#8221; He also stressed that the House and Senate need to work collaboratively to pass a final bill.
&#8220;You&#8217;re going to see the Republican Party in both chambers working together as one team,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I know that&#8217;s a rare occasion, and people don&#8217;t really know what that looks like, but we&#8217;re actually going to do it this time. The House is not going to participate in an us-versus-them charade.&#8221;
During his NRCC speech, Trump urged Republicans to stick together as he unleashes &#8220;Liberation Day&#8221; tariffs on foreign countries in an effort to secure more favorable trade relationships for the United States.
&#8220;House Republicans have a chance this week to bring trillions and trillions of dollars pouring back into America by pushing forward with the largest tax cuts in American history, which is what you&#8217;re working on right now,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://x.com/RealAmVoice/status/1909768911140110436" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
He later took aim at Republicans who have moved to rein in his tariff authority, which <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-vows-to-veto-senate-bill-targeting-tariff-authority" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prompted</a> a veto threat.
&#8220;These countries are calling us up, kissing my ass,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://x.com/theblaze/status/1909768502954590667" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;They are dying to make a deal. &#8216;Please, please sir, make a deal. I&#8217;ll do anything. I&#8217;ll do anything, sir!&#8217; And then I&#8217;ll see some rebel Republican, you know, some guy who wants to grandstand, says, &#8216;I think that Congress should take over negotiations.&#8217; Let me tell you: you don&#8217;t negotiate like I negotiate. Congress takes over negotiating — sell America fast because you&#8217;re going to go busted.&#8221;

‘Stop Grandstanding,’ Trump Tells GOP Holdouts In Budget Revolt

Politics

Tariffs

Nearly two dozen Republican governors conveyed their approval to President Donald Trump for a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/speaker-johnson-backs-senate-budget-plan-key-trump-one-big-beautiful-bill" target="_blank" rel="noopener">budget plan</a> that lays the groundwork for his &#8220;one big, beautiful bill.&#8221;
In a <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Gov-Letter-to-President-Trump.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> dated Monday, the governors expressed gratitude to Trump for supporting an amended budget reconciliation resolution. Having passed the GOP-led Senate, it is now advancing toward a vote in the Republican-controlled House. Once finalized, the resolution will enable Congress to proceed with legislation aimed at realizing Trump’s domestic priorities.
&#8220;We, like you, understand that more must be done to fully implement the agenda for which millions of Americans voted to see realized,&#8221; the governors said. &#8220;In particular, Congress must deliver to your desk a reconciliation bill that reinforces your executive actions and codifies in permanent law policies to secure the border, unleash American energy, restore military supremacy, fight wasteful spending, prevent a debilitating tax hike on working class Americans, and prevent a debt default.&#8221;
Early Saturday, the GOP-led Senate passed its <a href="https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/senate_amendment_h_con_res_14.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">version</a> of the budget reconciliation <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trumps-one-big-beautiful-budget-vision-clears-house-in-massive-victory-for-mike-johnson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">framework</a>, which seeks to extend the 2017 tax cuts set to expire this year, raise the debt ceiling by $5 trillion, and increase spending on border security and defense. It also includes several billion dollars in spending reductions — far less than the over $2 trillion goal in the plan narrowly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trumps-one-big-beautiful-budget-vision-clears-house-in-massive-victory-for-mike-johnson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">approved</a> by the House in February.
While the <a href="https://x.com/AndrewDesiderio/status/1905623315378471013" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Byrd Rule</a> constrained the Senate&#8217;s budget resolution to focus solely on fiscal measures like extending tax cuts and raising the debt ceiling while stripping out non-budgetary provisions, the gap in spending-reduction targets has frustrated some House Republicans, who might join Democrats to derail the resolution.
The Senate plan is &#8220;unserious and disappointing,&#8221; House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-TX) <a href="https://budget.house.gov/press-release/chairman-arrington-statement-on-reconciliation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a statement, arguing that it would create &#8220;$5.8 trillion in new costs and a mere $4 billion in enforceable cuts, less than one day’s worth of borrowing by the federal government&#8221; while setting &#8220;a dangerous precedent by direct scoring tax policy without including enforceable offsets.&#8221;
In a <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114298964268045690" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post</a> on Truth Social, Trump said, the Senate version had his &#8220;Complete and Total Endorsement and Support.&#8221;
He added: &#8220;All of the elements we need to secure the Border, enact Historic Spending Cuts, and make Tax Cuts PERMANENT, and much more, are strongly covered and represented in the Bill. Thank you to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, and House Speaker Mike Johnson for their hard work and attention to detail. There is no better time than now to get this Deal DONE! The House, the Senate, and our Great Administration, are going to work tirelessly on creating &#8216;THE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL,&#8217; an appropriate name if Congress so likes. Everyone is going to be happy with the result. Passage will make, even the subject of World Trade, far easier and better for the U.S.A. THE HOUSE MUST PASS THIS BUDGET RESOLUTION, AND QUICKLY — MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!&#8221;
Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders, a former Trump spokeswoman, joined Indiana Governor Mike Braun, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, and 18 other Republican governors in assuring Trump they have his back on this issue.
&#8220;We are on your side in supporting the Senate amendment to the House budget resolution because we know that failure cannot be an option,&#8221; the governors said. &#8220;The Democrats’ open border policies created a deadly flood of illegal immigrants in all our states. Inflation and punishing energy regulations have siphoned money from the pocketbooks of families. Without an extension of your Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, taxpayers will suffer a multi-trillion-dollar tax hike.&#8221;

Trump and Gov. Sarah Sanders

‘Congress Must Deliver’: Republican Governors Stand With Trump On Senate Budget Resolution

Red States

On Saturday, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) urged the House to pass a Senate budget plan to lay the groundwork for President Donald Trump&#8217;s domestic priorities, despite objections from members of his caucus who protest its lack of enforceable spending cuts.
In a letter to colleagues, Johnson and other House GOP leaders <a href="https://x.com/liz_elkind/status/1908564880010936346" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> the lower chamber will consider the Senate blueprint for reconciliation, insisting that voting on the resolution is a key step toward devising a bill in the weeks ahead.
&#8220;Adopting the Senate’s amendment to the House resolution will allow us to finally begin the most important phase of this process: drafting the reconciliation bill that will deliver on President Trump&#8217;s agenda and our promises to the American people,&#8221; they said, stressing later that it makes &#8220;NO CHANGES&#8221; to the reconciliation instructions previously approved by the House.
Early in the morning on Saturday, the GOP-led Senate passed its <a href="https://www.budget.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/senate_amendment_h_con_res_14.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">version</a> of the budget reconciliation <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trumps-one-big-beautiful-budget-vision-clears-house-in-massive-victory-for-mike-johnson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">framework</a> by a 51-48 <a href="https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1191/vote_119_1_00191.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vote</a> following an overnight &#8220;vote-a-rama&#8221; with several amendment votes.
In line with Trump&#8217;s push for &#8220;one big, beautiful bill,&#8221; the resolution aims to extend tax cuts from 2017 that are set to expire this year, increase the debt ceiling by $5 trillion, and boost border as well defense spending. It also locks in several billion dollars in spending reductions, but that amount is far less than the more than $2 trillion goal tucked into the plan narrowly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trumps-one-big-beautiful-budget-vision-clears-house-in-massive-victory-for-mike-johnson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">approved</a> by the House in February.
Some deficit hawks in the House have spoken out against how the Senate revised the resolution they had supported in its earlier form.
The Senate plan is &#8220;unserious and disappointing,&#8221; House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-TX) <a href="https://budget.house.gov/press-release/chairman-arrington-statement-on-reconciliation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a statement, arguing that it would create &#8220;$5.8 trillion in new costs and a mere $4 billion in enforceable cuts, less than one day’s worth of borrowing by the federal government&#8221; while setting &#8220;a dangerous precedent by direct scoring tax policy without including enforceable offsets.&#8221;
In a post on X, Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) <a href="https://x.com/RepAndyHarrisMD/status/1908518640317530615" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> he could support the Senate budget resolution if it can &#8220;deliver real deficit reduction&#8221; in line with the goals outlined in the House plan.
&#8220;However, by the Senate setting committee instructions so low at $4 billion compared to the House’s $1.5-2 trillion, I am unconvinced that will happen,&#8221; Harris added. &#8220;The Senate is free to put pen to paper to draft its reconciliation bill, but I can’t support House passage of the Senate changes to our budget resolution until I see the actual spending and deficit reduction plans to enact President Trump’s America First agenda.&#8221;
If enough members of the GOP caucus rebel, the budget reconciliation process could grind to a halt. House GOP leadership can afford to lose a few Republicans if all Democrats oppose the resolution. Currently, there are 220 Republicans and 213 Democrats.
Johnson <a href="https://x.com/SpeakerJohnson/status/1908619838915817864" target="_blank" rel="noopener">emphasized</a> in a post on X that the budget resolution is not the law itself but only the &#8220;necessary kickoff&#8221; for the reconciliation process to begin. &#8220;Time is of the essence,&#8221; he added.
&#8220;Although the Senate chose to take a different approach on its instructions, the amended resolution in NO WAY prevents us from achieving our goals in the final reconciliation bill,&#8221; Johnson <a href="https://x.com/SpeakerJohnson/status/1908619838915817864" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;We have and will continue to make it clear in all discussions with the Senate and the White House that — in order to secure House passage — the final reconciliation bill must include historic spending reductions while protecting essential programs.&#8221;
Following &#8220;close consultation&#8221; with Trump and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), &#8220;we all agree that the &#8216;One Big Beautiful Bill&#8217; must be drafted using a collaborative process that results in a single product that can be passed by both chambers and signed into law,&#8221; Johnson said.
&#8220;We have made it clear the House will NOT accept nor participate in an &#8216;us versus them&#8217; process resulting in a take-it-or-leave-it proposition from the Senate,&#8221; the speaker noted. &#8220;As soon as we pass the final budget resolution, our House and Senate committees will begin preparing together their respective titles of the reconciliation bill to be marked up in the next work period. As always, this will involve input from all Members and will keep us on track to send a bill to the President’s desk by Memorial Day.&#8221;

Speaker Mike Johnson

Amid GOP Revolt, House Speaker Backs Senate Budget Plan As Key To Trump’s ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill’

U.S. Senate

On Monday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) called out a &#8220;double dose of Democrat hypocrisy&#8221; when it came to a push to pass the GOP-backed stopgap bill that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-officially-sends-funding-bill-to-trumps-desk-after-dems-cave" target="_blank" rel="noopener">averted</a> a partial government shutdown earlier this month.
In remarks on the Senate floor, Thune alluded to how just nine Democrats and one independent helped the upper chamber <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-clears-key-hurdle-to-avert-shutdown-after-schumer-surrenders" target="_blank" rel="noopener">overcome</a> the three-fifths filibuster threshold and proceed with a continuing resolution that provided funds to various federal agencies and programs through the end of September.
&#8220;The rest preferred to filibuster the bill and shut down the government. It was a double dose of Democrat hypocrisy,&#8221; Thune said. &#8220;Democrats who had campaigned to abolish the filibuster enthusiastically embraced it now that it served their purposes and Democrats who had decried the evils of government shutdowns now embraced shutting down the government.&#8221;
Illustrating how Democrats have changed their tune depending on the situation, Thune shared quotes from some of his colleagues from across the aisle who voted against invoking cloture on the latest funding patch after decrying shutdowns in a political fight last year over keeping the government open.
Without naming anyone, Thune appeared to read a <a href="https://x.com/MarkWarner/status/1771335406493020212" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post</a> on X from Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) in March 2024 that called shutdowns &#8220;as devastating as they are stupid&#8221; and <a href="https://x.com/maziehirono/status/1762485328789504444" target="_blank" rel="noopener">another</a> from Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) in February 2024 that said, &#8220;Even a partial shutdown could disrupt supply chains, hurt small businesses, risk travel delays, and increase food prices for millions of Americans.&#8221;
Thune quipped: &#8220;Democrats are changing their position so abruptly it could give you whiplash. The only thing that doesn&#8217;t look likely to change is the Democrats&#8217; willingness to change their principles when it suits their political purposes.&#8221;
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was one of the Democrats who voted in favor of moving forward with the continuing resolution last week. He warned that a shutdown would empower President Donald Trump to keep cutting programs as part of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effort led by Elon Musk. However, some on the Left have argued that Schumer abdicated to Republicans and went as far as to call on him to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dem-lawmakers-begin-calling-schumer-step-aside" target="_blank" rel="noopener">step aside</a>.
Looking to what comes next, Thune said, &#8220;I hope the Democrats will manage to move past the fact that they weren&#8217;t able to shut down the government, but whether they accept their defeat or decide to throw a tantrum about it, we&#8217;re going continue to do the job that we were elected and sent here to do.&#8221;
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Thune: Senate Republicans Are on a Roll" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Tjq83JkwNTo?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Senate Majority Leader John Thune

Thune Calls Out ‘Double Dose Of Democrat Hypocrisy’ On Filibusters And Shutdowns

Democrats

Filibuster

Government Shutdown

John Thune

On Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/chuck-schumer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chuck Schumer</a> (D-NY) insisted that he is &#8220;best&#8221; suited to lead Democrats in the upper chamber as he faces a crisis of confidence in his party after <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-clears-key-hurdle-to-avert-shutdown-after-schumer-surrenders" target="_blank" rel="noopener">refusing</a> to vote in favor of blocking a Republican-backed stopgap bill to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-officially-sends-funding-bill-to-trumps-desk-after-dems-cave" target="_blank" rel="noopener">avert</a> a partial government shutdown last week.
&#8220;I&#8217;m the best leader for the Senate,&#8221; Schumer said during a &#8220;CBS Mornings&#8221; interview when pressed on calls for him to step aside. &#8220;We have a lot of leaders — you know, when you don&#8217;t have a president, there&#8217;s not one leader of the party. There are lots of them. We have a lot of good people, but we — I am the best at keep — winning Senate seats. I&#8217;ve done it in 2005 to — just in 2020, no one thought we&#8217;d take back the Senate; under my leadership we took it.&#8221;
Democrats offered a four-week continuing resolution (CR) as an alternative to the GOP&#8217;s six-month measure, claiming it would give both sides time to reach a bipartisan agreement. However, Schumer declared he would not vote to stop the Republican funding patch, saying that allowing a shutdown would empower President Donald Trump to keep cutting programs as part of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effort led by Elon Musk.
Immense blowback within the party ensued.
Liberal groups called for Schumer to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/15/dem-group-calls-schumer-step-down-minority-leader-spending-bill-vote-00232194" target="_blank" rel="noopener">step down</a> as Senate minority leader. Some Democrats in Congress openly rejected his stance in the spending fight, while House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) notably <a href="https://x.com/greg_price11/status/1900607500472275423" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> &#8220;next question&#8221; when asked if he had confidence in Schumer. And CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/13/politics/ocasio-cortez-schumer-democratic-shutdown-plan/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was mobilizing Democrats <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/aoc-rises-against-schumer-amid-shutdown-meltdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">against</a> Schumer’s plan and noted some colleagues were privately urging the leftist firebrand to consider a primary challenge against him.
Schumer, who just <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chuck-schumer-scraps-book-tour-citing-security-concerns-amid-backlash-over-cr-vote" target="_blank" rel="noopener">scrapped</a> book tour appearances while citing safety concerns, claimed that he and Jeffries have a &#8220;plan&#8221; to counter Trump. As an example, Schumer referred to a <a href="https://www.democrats.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/schumer-jeffries-joint-statement-on-medicaid-day-of-action" target="_blank" rel="noopener">joint statement</a> that he and Jeffries issued on Tuesday morning touting a &#8220;Medicaid Day of Action&#8221; they claimed would &#8220;push back&#8221; against the &#8220;extreme&#8221; Republican budget. The Senate minority leader added that they would highlight a variety of issues, such as tariffs.
&#8220;It&#8217;s beginning to work,&#8221; Schumer said. &#8220;His numbers have come down. If we keep at it, every day relentless fighting, and showing how they&#8217;re hurting people so badly, Trump&#8217;s numbers will get much lower and his both popularity but also his effectiveness will decline.&#8221;
Schumer will have his work cut out for him.
A national survey from NBC found that Trump and his second-term administration reached a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/yuge-poll-numbers-for-trump-president-cracks-right-direction-threshold-not-seen-since-2004" target="_blank" rel="noopener">significant milestone</a>, with 44% of Americans saying they believed the United States was &#8220;headed in the right direction&#8221; — the highest level since early 2004 when George W. Bush was president. Meanwhile, the same poll <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/yuge-poll-numbers-for-trump-president-cracks-right-direction-threshold-not-seen-since-2004" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> just 27% of respondents had a positive view of the Democrats. A survey from CNN that <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/16/politics/cnn-poll-democrats/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">showed</a> their party at 29% favorability.
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer

Embattled Schumer Crowns Himself ‘The Best Leader For The Senate’

Charles Schumer

Chuck Schumer

A tremendous number of Democrats voted against a continuing resolution to avert a partial government shutdown this past week, as underscored by a statistic delivered by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) over the weekend.
Joining &#8220;Life, Liberty, &amp; Levin&#8221; on Fox News, Johnson spoke about how Republicans who control both chambers of Congress &#8220;put the Democrats on record for just raw partisan politics&#8221; with votes on the stopgap bill.
&#8220;Think of it: 99% of the Democrats in Congress, both the House and the Senate, voted to shut the government down to try to make some sort of aimless political point,&#8221; Johnson told host Mark Levin. &#8220;It&#8217;s shameless. They are using the American people as pawns. But Republicans are getting the job done and we&#8217;re sticking up for the country.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
99% of Democrats in Congress voted to shut down the government just to make an aimless political point. It is shameless. They are using the American people as pawns.
Meanwhile, Republicans stuck together and got the job done to keep our government funded. <a href="https://t.co/nQx5POfjJg">pic.twitter.com/nQx5POfjJg</a>
&mdash; Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpeakerJohnson/status/1901087008052654332?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
A single House Democrat — Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) — voted in favor of passing the continuing resolution, which provides funds to various federal agencies and programs through September 30. In the Senate, a handful of Democrats chose <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-officially-sends-funding-bill-to-trumps-desk-after-dems-cave" target="_blank" rel="noopener">not to support</a> blocking the funding patch, but only Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Angus King (I-ME) voted to pass it.
Johnson gave thanks to his Republican colleagues for largely sticking together and credited President Donald Trump for playing a &#8220;huge part&#8221; in mustering enough support to pass the continuing resolution before the midnight deadline at the end of Friday.
Only Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) broke from the GOP line, warning the stopgap bill would continue to fund programs that the Trump administration seeks to cut via the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effort led by Elon Musk. However, Johnson contended the measure did show fiscal restraint.
&#8220;We all dug in and got the job done for the second — third time in a row. They keep underestimating us on these big votes, but the Republicans are sticking together and getting it done,&#8221; Johnson said. &#8220;And this time, we passed a resolution to fund the government — to do the responsible thing. To do it in a way that actually reduces spending year over year, which we think is the first time that might have happened in the modern era — if ever.&#8221;

House Votes On Budget Bill To Fund Government

Speaker Johnson Shares Eye-Opening Statistic On Dem Shutdown Vote

Americans want Democrats to &#8220;fight&#8221; President Donald Trump, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) contended on Sunday, despite polling that painted a dismal picture for his party.
On NBC&#8217;s &#8220;Meet the Press,&#8221; Murphy <a href="https://x.com/westernlensman/status/1901281862594580654?s=46&amp;t=z5YS3Gq8Y9sGYCPA7C8RlQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">alluded</a> to a contentious few days for Senate Democrats in the last week. During that time, enough members of the party chose <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-officially-sends-funding-bill-to-trumps-desk-after-dems-cave" target="_blank" rel="noopener">not to support</a> blocking a GOP-backed stopgap bill, allowing it to pass and averting a partial government shutdown.
&#8220;I think Americans want the Democratic Party to stand up and fight and to take risks. Listen, I understand that had we gone into a shutdown, even for a handful of days, it would have been difficult,&#8221; Murphy said.
&#8220;But it would have sent a message that the Democratic Party is not going to be bullied by Donald Trump,&#8221; he added. &#8220;We are not going to let them write spending bills unilaterally that cut programs for people we care about, that give the president new and extraordinary power.&#8221;
Murphy was responding to moderator Kristen Welker, who pressed the senator for a response to a new NBC survey. Conducted before the Senate showdown over the continuing resolution, the national poll <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/yuge-poll-numbers-for-trump-president-cracks-right-direction-threshold-not-seen-since-2004" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> just 27% of respondents had a positive view of the Democrats.
The same survey revealed that Trump and his second-term administration reached a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/yuge-poll-numbers-for-trump-president-cracks-right-direction-threshold-not-seen-since-2004" target="_blank" rel="noopener">significant milestone</a>, with 44% of Americans saying they believe the United States is &#8220;headed in the right direction&#8221; — the highest level since early 2004 when George W. Bush was president.
Despite these findings, Murphy argued that bipartisanship is not a viable option for his party. Echoing a common refrain among Democrats, he warned that representative democracy in the United States is at risk with Trump in office.
&#8220;I think Democrats in this country, but I think the broad middle of the public as well, want to see our party fighting in exceptional ways,&#8221; Murphy said. &#8220;That is the conversation that has to happen inside of the Democratic Party, inside our caucus. And if we don&#8217;t get that right, if we continue to work with Republicans, if we continue to hand Donald Trump more power, we are going to lose our democracy.&#8221;

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT)

Confronted With Party’s Cratering Popularity, Dem Insists Americans Crave Anti-Trump ‘Fight’

Chris Murphy

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