Jeffries urges full Dem attendance for GOP budget vote: ‘Pivotal’
House Democrats are united against the Republicans’ budget plan. But heading into this week’s vote on the resolution, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) wants to ensure all of his troops are in the chamber to register that opposition when the package hits the floor.
In a Monday letter to all House Democrats, Jeffries noted the "pivotal" vote will be razor thin, whichever way it falls, and urged his colleagues to be on hand to optimize their powers to block President Trump’s domestic agenda before it can get off the ground.
“Given the expected closeness of the vote, it’s imperative that we are present with maximum attendance,” Jeffries wrote.
Jeffries’s task is both simple and arduous. Simple, in the sense that it’s always easier, on Capitol Hill, to rally the minority party against the partisan proposals of the majority. And House Democrats are firmly united against the GOP’s budget plan.
But without the Speaker’s gavel, Jeffries and his Democrats are also powerless to block GOP bills — if Republicans coalesce behind them. With that in mind, Democrats are leaning heavily on the one indirect power they do have — public messaging — in hopes that a voter backlash against the details of the GOP budget bill sways vulnerable Republican lawmakers to vote against it.
Jeffries noted some House Republicans have already experienced that backlash in public forums in their districts over the Presidents Day recess — an uncomfortable trend, for the GOP, that he’s hoping Democrats can compound.
“Over the last week, concerned citizens across America, from the Heartland to the Central Valley of California, the Upper Midwest to the Deep South, the Northeast suburbs to Southwestern towns, made clear that they do not support the House Republican budget,” Jeffries wrote Monday.
“As we defend the American people, House Democrats will continue to amplify the stories of everyday Americans whose lives are being turned upside down by the Trump administration and extreme MAGA Republicans in Congress.”
The messge comes as Republican leaders are scrambling to unite their divided GOP conference behind a massive budget resolution designed to pave the way for enactment of Trump’s ambitious domestic agenda for his first year back in office.
The package features a crackdown on immigration, an increase in domestic energy production and $4.5 trillion in tax cuts to be partially offset by $2 trillion in cuts to other federal programs. It would also increase spending for the military and border security, while hiking the debt limit by $4 trillion.
The resolution is supported by a vast majority of lawmakers in the House GOP conference, including conservatives demanding steep reductions in spending on federal programs to offset the deficit impact of the loss of federal revenues resulting from the tax cuts. But a handful of moderate Republicans are balking at the size and scope of the federal cuts, particularly as they might affect Medicaid patients.
Those holdouts say they’re ready to vote against the GOP budget package when it hits the floor, unless GOP leaders can provide convincing evidence that the cuts to Medicaid and other safety net programs don’t erode benefits for low-income people in their districts.
Republican leaders have very little room with which to play. With their current majority of 218-215 they can afford one GOP defection. Two would sink the bill.
It’s that math problem that Jeffries and Democrats are hoping to exploit, attacking the GOP budget as a giveaway to the wealthy at the expense of the working class — and all but daring vulnerable Republicans to vote for it.
Maximum Democratic attendance during this week’s vote, Jeffries said, will help with that effort.
“[F]ar-right extremists are determined to push through $4.5 trillion of tax breaks for wealthy Republican donors and well-connected corporations, explode the debt and saddle everyday Americans with the bill by ending Medicaid as we know it,” Jeffries wrote Monday.
“We must be at full strength to enhance our opportunity to stop the GOP Tax Scam in its tracks.”
Topics
-
Details on Senate-passed GOP budget plan after "vote-a-rama"
Senate Republicans have passed a budget resolution after pulling an all-nighter through a process known as "vote-a-rama." The passage comes despite President Trump's earlier backing of a competing ...CBS News - 3d -
Senate adopts GOP budget plan in "vote-a-rama," despite Trump backing competing House plan
The Senate has adopted a slimmed-down GOP budget proposal focusing on defense, border security, and energy priorities, despite President Trump's earlier backing of a competing plan put forward by ...CBS News - 3d -
Trump stuns Senate GOP with House budget endorsement
“Did not see that one coming,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said.Politico - 5d -
GOP scrambles to win over moderates on budget resolution
Senate passage of a budget resolution designed to execute large parts of President Trump’s policy agenda throws the ball back to the House, where GOP leaders are hoping to move swiftly on ...The Hill - 7h -
GOP Kentucky Senate candidate knocks McConnell for Trump 'no' votes
Former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron (R), who recently launched a bid for the seat being vacated by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R), criticized his fellow Kentuckian for voting against ...The Hill - 1h -
Senate adopts budget resolution after marathon overnight vote-a-rama
The Senate on Friday adopted a budget resolution intended to serve as a blueprint to deliver the first part of President Trump’s agenda. Senators voted 52-48 along party lines on the resolution ...The Hill - 3d -
Senate GOP to vote on its plan for Trump's agenda despite Trump backing House plan
Senate Republicans plowing ahead with their efforts to advance the first stage of their two-part package to pay for Trump's agenda despite Trump backing the House’s plan.ABC News - 3d -
Senate Passes G.O.P. Budget Plan After Democrats Force Long Night of Votes
Before adopting Republicans’ budget resolution, senators engaged in an all-night parliamentary marathon that Democrats used to try to force the G.O.P. into politically damaging votes.The New York Times - 3d -
Senate adopts $340 billion budget blueprint for Trump's agenda after marathon 'vote-a-rama'
The Republican-controlled Senate on Friday morning adopted a $340 billion budget blueprint designed to boost funding for President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement efforts, energy production ...NBC News - 3d
More from The Hill
-
Duffy on cuts at FAA: 'We kept all the critical safety positions'
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Monday defended workforce cuts at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), saying that people in “critical safety positions” were kept and that the only ...The Hill - 32m -
Most voters support having agency focused on government efficiency: Poll
Most voters support having an agency focused on ensuring government efficiency but were split on the current Elon Musk-led department having access to their own personal data and the country’s, ...The Hill - 36m -
Dems press agencies to ignore Musk: ‘Reckless, cruel, unlawful, and unenforceable’
House Democrats are pressing every major agency head in Washington to reject the recent demand from Elon Musk that federal workers must detail their recent work accomplishments or be fired. More ...The Hill - 37m -
Youngkin: I have 'extraordinary empathy' for federal workers at risk of losing jobs
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) said on Monday that he has empathy for the state’s federal workers at risk of losing their jobs as a result of the Trump administration’s efforts to cut down the ...The Hill - 37m -
Newsom asks Congress for almost $40B in wildfire recovery aid
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has requested that Congress appropriate nearly $40 billion to support communities affected by the wildfires that devastated the Los Angeles region last month. ...The Hill - 40m
More in Politics
-
Duffy on cuts at FAA: 'We kept all the critical safety positions'
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Monday defended workforce cuts at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), saying that people in “critical safety positions” were kept and that the only ...The Hill - 32m -
Most voters support having agency focused on government efficiency: Poll
Most voters support having an agency focused on ensuring government efficiency but were split on the current Elon Musk-led department having access to their own personal data and the country’s, ...The Hill - 36m -
Dems press agencies to ignore Musk: ‘Reckless, cruel, unlawful, and unenforceable’
House Democrats are pressing every major agency head in Washington to reject the recent demand from Elon Musk that federal workers must detail their recent work accomplishments or be fired. More ...The Hill - 37m -
Youngkin: I have 'extraordinary empathy' for federal workers at risk of losing jobs
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) said on Monday that he has empathy for the state’s federal workers at risk of losing their jobs as a result of the Trump administration’s efforts to cut down the ...The Hill - 37m -
Newsom asks Congress for almost $40B in wildfire recovery aid
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has requested that Congress appropriate nearly $40 billion to support communities affected by the wildfires that devastated the Los Angeles region last month. ...The Hill - 40m