House Republican leaders canceled a vote on the Senate’s budget resolution Wednesday night, as Speaker Mike Johnson came to terms with what had been clear for many hours: Too many Republicans would vote in opposition and the measure was bound to fail.
The outcome is a brutal blow for House GOP leaders and President Donald Trump, who have spent days trying to wrangle the votes for the fiscal blueprint.
Adoption of identical budget resolutions in both the House and Senate is an essential step to allowing committees to start drafting and passing a party-line package of tax cuts, military spending, energy policy and border security investments.
The evening roll call on the budget was delayed as House hard-liners back-channeled with a group of Senate Republicans to sketch out deeper spending cuts.
