WASHINGTON — The U.S. House on Thursday signed off on a budget bill that will provide the framework for congressional Republicans to carry out President Donald Trump’s agenda.
But it came only after a vote on the bill was abruptly canceled Wednesday night amid signs Speaker Mike Johnson was working until the last second to achieve the majority vote he needed to pass the legislation. The final tally was 216-214, with two Republicans, neither from Georgia, opposed.
After the vote, Johnson celebrated Republicans in both chambers getting on the same page.
“That was a big step because that will allow us now to move forward, to have our committees actually drafting the ‘one big, beautiful bill,‘” the speaker said. “There is a lot of work ahead of us, and we’re really excited about that.”
The budget resolution has already cleared the Senate. The House vote was part of a reconciliation process aligning House and Senate spending priorities.
The next step for Republicans is to iron out the details of the funding bill that can pass without the support of Democrats and despite the thin GOP majorities in both chambers.
The package is expected to include more money for border security and national defense, a debt-limit increase, an extension of the 2017 tax cuts passed during Trump’s first administration, and $1.5 trillion in cuts to spending on other federal programs, possibly food stamps and Medicaid.
Georgia’s House delegation split strictly along party lines, with all nine Republicans in favor and all Democrats opposed. That includes two lawmakers that on Wednesday night were part of a group of roughly a dozen holdouts who caused Johnson to postpone the vote.
U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Athens, and several other freedom caucus members initially opposed the legislation because the Senate bill required only $4 billion in spending cuts instead of the House version that mandated $1.5 trillion. Clyde said he decided to support the bill after “intense negotiations” and only after assurances from Johnson and Senate Leader John Thune that the final package would meet their goals of reducing federal spending overall.
“As a fiscal hawk, I will hold both my House and Senate colleagues accountable in delivering on this promise,” Clyde wrote in a post on X. “After all, we can — and must — achieve President Trump’s America First agenda in a fiscally responsible manner.”
Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Suwanee, was also among those who were publicly skeptical about the bill earlier in the week but ultimately supported it.
After the vote, Trump took to social media to applaud the bill’s passage.
“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,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “Among many other things, it will be the Largest Tax and Regulation Cuts ever even contemplated.”
How members of Georgia’s U.S. House delegation voted on the Senate version of the budget framework, H. Con. Res. 14.
Yes
U.S. Rep. Rick Allen, R-Augusta
U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-St. Simons Island
U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Athens
U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, R-Jackson
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome
U.S. Rep. Brian Jack, R-Peachtree City
U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Cassville
U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Suwanee
U.S. Rep. Austin Scott, R-Tifton
No
U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany
U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Lithonia
U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta
U.S. Rep. David Scott, D-Atlanta
U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta
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