House Committees Advance Bills to Action Trump’s Spending Plan

Three U.S. House committees from May 11 have advanced their portion of President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful” government funding bill to carry out his MAGA agenda.

Since then, the House Ways and Means Committee, the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and the House Agriculture Committee have each taken votes their respective budget bills.

The bills, which were passed in party-line votes, touch on loaded issues related to topics like Medicaid, tax policy, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps. Republicans have a top-line goal of cutting spending by at least $1 trillion—though that’s easier said than done.

The standalone bills will be combined by the Republican leadership into one mega-reconciliation bill, which could allow the GOP to bypass the 60-vote filibuster threshold in the Senate.

“With today’s committee meeting, relief is finally on the way for working families, waitresses, mechanics, nurses, farmers, and Americans all across this country who have been hammered by four years of [former President Joe] Biden’s 21 percent inflation tax,” House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.) said in a statement before the markup hearing.

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“The bill delivers what Americans voted for—tax policies that put working families first—and kickstarts a new golden era of American prosperity and strength.”

A core component of the legislation, which proposes cutting taxes by more than $4 trillion and reducing spending by $1.5 trillion over a decade, is permanently extending the lower income tax rates of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

The tax plan raises the state and local tax deduction limit to $30,000 from $10,000 for households earning less than $400,000.

Democrats say the bill will be skewed toward wealthy Americans and worsen the federal government’s fiscal position.

Under the bill, “a taxpayer who’s making more than [$1 million] a year … gets 310 times the average tax cut [that] taxpayers making less than $50,000 a year [get],” Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) said.

The tax cuts are estimated to cost $3.7 trillion, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation—below the $4 trillion target set by congressional Republicans.

Medicaid

The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved changes to Medicaid in a party-line 30–24 vote on May 14 after a marathon session lasting more than 26 hours.

The proposal will reduce federal spending by $712 billion over 10 years, accounting for a large portion of the $880 billion in cumulative spending reductions through to 2034.

Republicans and Democrats painted vastly differing pictures of how the proposed changes to Medicaid would affect beneficiaries.

Republicans said the reforms are commonsense and necessary measures to extend the solvency of the $914 billion program by ensuring that only people entitled to receive Medicaid benefits are enrolled and receiving payments through the program.

Democrats said the changes would create barriers to enrollment and health care for low-income, disabled, and elderly people and would rob millions of low-income Americans of health coverage.

Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) said: “This is not a moderate bill, and it is not focused on cutting ‘waste, fraud, and abuse.’ Instead, Republicans are intentionally taking health care away from millions of Americans so they can give giant tax breaks to the ultra-rich who don’t need them.”

Under the bill, able-bodied adults who do not have dependents would have to complete “community engagement requirements” to remain eligible for Medicaid. That will mean spending 80 or more hours per month—or an average of 20 hours a week—at work, receiving education, or in volunteer service.

Enrollees in the low-income program would also have to show they are keeping up with the eligibility requirements twice a year instead of annually.

The bill would also add a requirement for some Medicaid recipients who make more than 100 percent of the federal poverty level to pay certain out-of-pocket expenses.

Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) said of the bill, “All of this is part of our effort to strengthen Medicaid for the people that need it most.”

Food Stamp Cuts

The House Committee on Agriculture, after its own marathon hearing that exceeded 24 hours, advanced legislation that proposes federal cuts to the SNAP program, commonly known as “food stamps,” which it oversees.

The panel passed the legislation in a strictly party-line 29–25 vote after a contentious hearing.

It would reduce reform expenditures on SNAP by reducing the federal government’s portion to 95 percent, beginning in fiscal year 2028, requiring states to pick up 5 percent of the SNAP burden.

It would also impose new work requirements, limiting eligibility to 90 days for able-bodied adults without work.

The committee was also ordered to find at least $230 billion in savings as part of the $1 trillion in cuts ordered by House leadership.

Republicans said the proposal would shrink the national debt and return SNAP to its original, narrower congressional intent.

In his opening remarks in favor of the legislation, Chairman Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) said the Agriculture Committee legislation would “restore integrity” to SNAP and “make sure that this essential program works for the most vulnerable and functions as Congress has intended.”

Democrats were deeply critical of the proposed budget, with many comparing the bill to “Robin Hood in reverse.”

Ranking Member Angie Craig (D-Minn.) said that the cuts would harm millions of Americans, citing Congressional Budget Office estimates that the proposed paperwork requirements would result in 3 million people losing access to food assistance.

“You don’t build a life on SNAP. You build a bridge to the next paycheck, the next opportunity, that next moment of stability,” she said.

They also expressed concerns that the legislation would negatively impact American agriculture more broadly.

SALT allows voters to write off state and local taxes for federal purposes, making it popular in blue states like New York or California—where taxes tend to be high.

The SALT deduction currently sits at $10,000, but Republicans from Democrat-controlled states like New York and California want it increased.

The bill passed by the House Ways and Means Committee increases it to $30,000 but a group of Republicans from New York—including Reps. Elise Stefanik, Mike Lawler, Nick LaLota and Andrew Garbarino—say it’s not enough.

Lawler has told The Epoch Times previously that he was seeking as much as a $100,000 SALT cap.

Conservatives, meanwhile, have criticized SALT, alleging it requires GOP-led states to subsidize high-tax Democrat states.

With multiple Republicans unhappy over the issue, Johnson could have trouble passing the legislation in the full vote on the House floor.