The House Budget Committee approved a fiscal 2027 budget resolution Thursday as the first step toward passing a filibuster-proof reconciliation bill to provide tens of billions of dollars for defense, farm aid and voting restrictions.
The panel advanced the GOP-backed budget resolution on a strictly party-line vote of 20-14 after rejecting 14 amendments, all offered by Democrats.
But in one sign of potential trouble as the resolution heads to the House floor, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a Budget member who also serves on the powerful Rules Committee, did not vote at Thursday’s markup. Roy and other conservative critics have expressed concerns that the resolution requires no offsetting spending cuts to keep the deficit in check, and that voter ID restrictions sought by President Donald Trump would have to get watered down to comply with the rules of the reconciliation process.
The concurrent resolution includes instructions to four House committees —Armed Services, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Agriculture and House Administration — directing them to draft legislation providing up to $73 billion in defense and intelligence funds to underwrite the war in Iran, $12 billion in aid to farmers, and $10 billion for legislation aimed at preventing voting fraud.
