Johnson Sends $95 Billion Recon 3.0 to Senate as Thune Struggles for 50 GOP Votes
Updated
Updated · POLITICO · Jul 23
Johnson Sends $95 Billion Recon 3.0 to Senate as Thune Struggles for 50 GOP Votes
3 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Jul 23
Summary
Senate Republicans are signaling resistance to the House-passed $95 billion budget blueprint, with John Kennedy saying John Thune is unlikely to bring it up despite pressure to act before the August recess.
Thune faces a narrow path because he can lose only two GOP votes, Mitch McConnell is absent indefinitely, and deficit hawks including Rick Scott, Bill Cassidy and Rand Paul want spending offsets the House plan lacks.
Government funding is also taking priority: GOP leaders want a stopgap before the Sept. 30 deadline, and Thune has said he may keep the House budget resolution in reserve as leverage if Democrats block a continuing resolution.
The bill could run into another internal fight over Trump-backed SAVE America election provisions, with Thom Tillis warning he would use every tool available to slow any reconciliation package carrying them.
The standoff leaves Johnson's latest House win vulnerable in the Senate, where timing, election-year politics and reconciliation rules could still sink a third party-line spending push.