House Republicans rolled out a $95 billion budget resolution on July 15, and the party’s own members are already lining up to shoot it down. Speaker Mike Johnson’s plan, which carves out massive chunks for defense, intelligence, farm aid, and election integrity measures, contains exactly zero spending cuts or new revenue to pay for it.
What’s actually in the blueprint
The budget resolution breaks down into four main buckets. Defense gets the lion’s share at up to $60 billion, covering servicemember pay and operations related to Iran. Intelligence enhancements receive $13 billion. Agricultural support gets $12 billion. And the SAVE America Act, focused on voter ID and citizenship proof requirements, accounts for the remaining $10 billion.
The framework is designed as a party-line initiative, meaning Johnson needs near-unanimous Republican support to push it through. The House Budget Committee markup was scheduled for July 16, just one day after the unveiling, setting up an aggressive timeline ahead of the six-week August recess.
This isn’t just a spending bill. It’s an attempt to pave the way for what would be a third reconciliation bill within the current Congress. Reconciliation is the legislative mechanism that lets budget-related bills pass the Senate with a simple majority instead of the usual 60 votes.
