Megabill goes down in committee amid IRA tax credit spat

By Andres Picon | 05/16/2025 01:36 PM EDT

House Republican leaders will work through the weekend to try to assuage conservatives’ concerns about the energy subsidies and other issues.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) speaks during a House Budget Committee markup.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) during the House Budget Committee markup of budget reconciliation legislation Friday. Francis Chung/POLITICO

The House Budget Committee failed to approve Republicans’ party-line bill Friday, as conservatives continue to withhold support over the way the bill treats clean energy tax credits, Medicaid and other issues.

Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas), Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), Josh Brecheen (R-Okla.) and Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) joined all Democrats in voting against advancing the GOP’s sweeping tax, energy and border security bill.

Budget Committee Vice Chair Lloyd Smucker (R-Pa.) changed his vote to “no” for procedural purposes, to allow the bill to be considered again later.

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The 16-21 vote is a significant setback for Republican leaders, who were hoping to put the bill up for a vote on the House floor next week but are now facing a rebellion, with multiple members calling for more aggressive action against Inflation Reduction Act subsidies for clean energy development.

“Sadly, I’m a hard no until we get this ironed out, and I think we can,” Norman said during the markup. “We’ve made progress, but it just takes time.”

He argued the IRA credits should be sunset much sooner, though he didn’t offer a specific date. He called the subsidies “giveaways.”

The critics and House Speaker Mike Johnson said they will continue negotiating through the weekend, but it’s unclear what kinds of changes they could make to the bill’s energy provisions.

The Ways and Means Committee’s section of the megabill would phase out, alter or repeal a number of the credits expanded under Democrats’ 2022 climate law, which the Joint Committee on Taxation has estimated would save about $515 billion over 10 years.

More than a dozen House Republicans are calling on Republican leaders to take a softer approach on the credits, and some Senate Republicans are indicating that they want to see some of the incentives preserved.

Reporter Kelsey Brugger contributed.