A Look at the House Budget Bill – and What’s Delaying it

The deadline for a new federal government spending plan is nearing, and House Speaker Mike Johnson is barreling ahead with his plan – with or without the votes.

House Republicans are back on the job after a week off, and Johnson is looking to move his budget resolution through the lower chamber on Monday and to the floor on Tuesday. The only problem is that at the moment he lacks the votes he needs in the chamber that Republicans control by just a narrow 218-215 margin.

While conservative hard-liners Rep. Chip Roy of Texas and Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina are on board, at least 12 Republicans have told the speaker they need assurances, and Rep. Victoria Spartz of Indiana is already a firm no.

Adding to Johnson’s headache is a likely unified no vote from House Democrats in protest of the Trump administration’s efforts to reshape the federal workforce with billionaire adviser Elon Musk and his team at the Department of Government Efficiency.

Many political analysts suggest the vote is unlikely to take place, but Johnson is under a lot of pressure from the White House to pass a single bill that addresses Trump's priorities ranging from immigration to energy to the military while also including tax cuts and raising the debt limit.