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House Republicans cloistered themselves for not one but two daylong sessions on Saturday, Jan. 4, and Sunday, Jan. 5, at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C. That’s where House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, and Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith, R-Mo., presented their ideas to slash spending and engineer a budget reconciliation package.
Keep that term in mind. Budget reconciliation. More on that in a moment.
Back on Capitol Hill, House Republicans convened multiple large and small meetings to lay out details on their package. That included a three-day session at President Trump’s golf club in Doral, Florida.
Republicans returned to Washington with claims of "unity." But still no agreement.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on July 24, 2024. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
"[President Trump] set the tone for us to push through some things that we were stuck on," said Arrington when he returned to the Capitol.
"We made serious progress and have narrowed the gap to where we're very close to getting ready to bring this to Budget Committee," said Senate Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La.
Johnson even predicted the plan may be ready later that evening. Hence, a group of Republicans retreated for another set of meetings until well after midnight.
"I’d like to see their plan," complained Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn. "They’re not going to force me into something."
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Speaker Johnson is working to get a unified GOP effort for a reconciliation budget package for President Trump. (Getty Images)
Johnson deployed his favorite verbal placeholder.
"Stay tuned," said the speaker, who uses this line as frequently as a 1950s radio announcer.
"You said last week we were going to have it," I countered.
"I know," said Johnson. "I've got 220 people that have shared their opinions on this."
"Did you overpromise?" I followed up.
"No. No," responded Johnson. "The hard work of the negotiation has to be done on the front end so that we can deliver a product that we know everybody will support."
Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., tired of the House GOP’s dithering last week, wrote his own budget package, which significantly differs from what the House intends to do. While the House blueprint will focus on taxes and government cuts, Graham’s measure would boost energy production and also call for spending money to tighten the border. The South Carolina Republican has long observed that people voted for border security in the election. He argues that provision should come first.
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Families enjoy the snow by the Capitol, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, as they sled after a snowstorm in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
"Well, you were supposed to get a budget last week, and we didn’t," observed your trusty reporter, drawing laughter from scribes and lawmakers alike.
At the press conference, Johnson insisted that the budget was on track. He announced that the Budget Committee would meet Thursday on the package.
But what unfolded in the news conference wasn’t nearly as interesting as what happened afterward.
Arrington hustled over to the Radio/TV Gallery to privately meet Johnson and other GOP leaders in an adjacent anteroom. Johnson and Arrington had not been on the same page with the budget. Fox is told that Arrington and Johnson had to make sure they were aligned. Arrington had pushed for deeper cuts than Johnson.
By Wednesday morning, Arrington delivered a budget blueprint. It called for $2 trillion in cuts from what’s called "mandatory spending," like entitlements. It features $4.5 trillion in tax reductions. And it lifts the debt ceiling by $4 trillion.
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The question now is whether House Republicans can pry a bill out of committee, let alone pass it on the floor.
But after weeks of jawboning, House Republicans finally had a budget.
And, for the record, Washington, D.C., also got snow.
About 7 inches.
Chad Pergram currently serves as a senior congressional correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC). He joined the network in September 2007 and is based out of Washington, D.C.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-gops-budget-impasse-thaws-out-just-winter-storm-sacks-capitol