House Republicans approved a budget resolution Wednesday advancing a Trump-backed spending framework that would provide billions of dollars for defense, election-related initiatives and agricultural assistance, while setting up negotiations with Senate Republicans over the size and scope of the package.
The House passed the budget blueprint 216-214, largely along party lines. The measure does not become law but provides reconciliation instructions that would allow Republicans to draft another party-line spending package without Democratic support in the Senate.
Under the proposal, House committees would be authorized to write legislation allocating up to $95 billion, including $60 billion for the military, $13 billion for intelligence programs, $12 billion for farm assistance and $10 billion for grants to states that implement voter identification laws.
House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, said the measure represents the third reconciliation effort of President Donald Trump’s second administration and is intended to strengthen national security, agriculture and election integrity.
“Here we are, reconciliation 3.0, supporting our troops in their time of need,” Arrington said during floor debate. “Just baseline battlefield readiness. Bullets and bombs to finish the job.”
He added that the eventual legislation would also bolster the nation’s food supply and “safeguard the integrity of our elections.”
Democrats opposed the budget resolution, arguing Republicans continue to expand federal spending while increasing the national debt.
Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, said previous Republican reconciliation packages approved during Trump’s second term have already added trillions to the nation’s debt.
“The same crowd that loves to cry crocodile tears about deficit and debt whenever there’s a president in the White House who’s a Democrat — cumulatively now they have added $5 trillion to our national debt,” Boyle said. “And they’re about to add $100 billion more.”
Despite clearing the House, the proposal faces an uncertain future in the Senate.
Republicans in the upper chamber remain divided over how much money should be directed toward defense spending, aid for farmers and whether new spending should be offset by cuts elsewhere in the federal budget.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said lawmakers are expected to prioritize government funding legislation before taking up the reconciliation blueprint.
Congress must approve a spending measure before the Oct. 1 start of the new fiscal year to avoid a partial government shutdown. While the House has already passed a stopgap funding bill extending government operations through Dec. 4, Senate leaders are negotiating a bipartisan alternative.
Because both chambers must adopt identical budget resolutions before reconciliation legislation can be drafted, any delay in the Senate could push work on the package into September.
That would leave Republicans with only a narrow window before the November midterm elections to complete one of Congress’ most complex legislative procedures.
Unlike the House, where debate is tightly controlled, the Senate reconciliation process allows unlimited amendment votes, giving Democrats multiple opportunities to challenge Republican spending priorities and policy proposals.
