House Republicans on Wednesday released a blueprint they intend to use to advance President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda, breaking through an impasse that had stymied the conference for days. The rollout of the budget resolution (TEXT) comes one day before the House Budget Committee is scheduled to debate and advance the resolution, the first step in the budget reconciliation process. The resolution includes a $4.5 trillion cap on the deficit impact of the Republicans’ plan to extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, a number the Ways and Means Committee will use to craft the tax portion of the legislation. It also sets a $100 billion cap on spending for the Armed Services Committee, a $90 billion cap for the Homeland Security Committee and a $110 billion cap for the Judiciary Committee. And it includes a $4 trillion increase of the debt limit. The panel is set to consider the measure Thursday at 10 A.M. EST. The House blueprint dropped just as the Senate Budget Committee got underway with a markup for its own budget resolution — which is following a strategy favored by Senate Republicans and opposed by top GOP lawmakers — putting the two chambers on a collision course over President Trump’s agenda. Republicans are looking to use the budget reconciliation process to pass Trump’s domestic policy priorities — including border funding, energy policy and an extension of the 2017 tax cuts — which would allow the party to circumvent certain Democratic opposition in the Senate.
The Senate just voted largely along party lines to confirm Tulsi Gabbard to serve as the director of national intelligence, the nation’s top intelligence official, despite strong objections from Democrats and initial misgivings from Republicans who questioned her experience and judgment. The 52-48 vote caps two months of deliberations in the Senate over whether Gabbard, a former House Democrat from Hawaii, is qualified to lead the nation’s 18 intelligence agencies and prepare President Trump’s daily intelligence brief. As of this afternoon, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is now one vote away from leading the Department of Health and Human Services. The Senate also just voted 53-47 along party lines to cut off debate on the nomination on Wednesday morning, setting up confirmation that could come as soon as Thursday.
The House met at 10:00 A.M. for morning hour and 12:00 P.M. for legislative business and at 4:30 P.M. will vote on H.R. 77 – Midnight Rules Relief Act.
