WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax-cut proposal hit a roadblock Friday after five Republicans on the House Budget Committee joined Democrats in rejecting the measure, despite a high-profile appeal from Trump for party unity.
The vote marked the first major legislative setback for Trump in a Congress dominated by Republicans, who have largely rubber-stamped his agenda since retaking control following last November’s elections. The failed procedural vote threatens to delay a full House floor vote scheduled for next week, and it exposes deep fractures within the GOP over fiscal priorities.
“Republicans must UNITE behind our tax cut plan,” Trump wrote on social media ahead of the vote. “We don’t need ‘GRANDSTANDERS’ in the Republican Party. STOP TALKING, AND GET IT DONE!”
But his call went unheeded. Five Republican members — Reps. Chip Roy (Texas), Ralph Norman (S.C.), Andrew Clyde (Ga.), Josh Brecheen (Okla.), and Lloyd Smucker (Pa.) — broke ranks and joined all 16 Democrats on the committee in opposing the measure, citing concerns over ballooning deficits and insufficient spending cuts.
The proposed legislation, which would extend and expand tax cuts enacted during Trump’s first term, is estimated to cost $3.72 trillion over the next decade, according to the bipartisan Joint Committee on Taxation. It includes provisions aimed at reducing taxes on tips and overtime pay, a feature Republicans argue would benefit working-class Americans. However, critics say the bill is heavily tilted toward the wealthy.
House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) opened the session by urging colleagues to deliver on what he described as a voter mandate to restore economic growth and fiscal sanity.
“They want common sense policies. And they want from all of us a commitment to putting America and Americans first,” Arrington said. “Let’s give the people what they voted for.”
But hardline fiscal conservatives balked at what they saw as a lack of structural reform.
“We are writing checks we cannot cash, and our children are going to pay the price,” Rep. Chip Roy told the committee. “So I am a ‘no’ on this bill unless serious reforms are made.”
At the heart of the Republican revolt were demands for deeper reductions to Medicaid — the public healthcare program for low-income Americans — and a full repeal of green energy tax incentives introduced by Democrats. Hardline Republicans have also called for more aggressive spending caps and immediate implementation of Medicaid work requirements, which are currently scheduled to begin in 2029 under the bill.
Moderate Republicans, however, objected to such deep cuts. Some, particularly those from Democratic-led states, pushed to raise the federal cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions, which were limited under Trump’s 2017 tax law and have long been a political sore spot for lawmakers from high-tax states like New York, California, and New Jersey.
These conflicting demands have left House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) scrambling to forge a compromise that can unite the GOP’s divided factions. Discussions are ongoing, and several Republicans have signaled they are open to backing a revised version of the bill if key concessions are made.
Democrats roundly condemned the legislation, framing it as a giveaway to billionaires that would slash health coverage for millions of Americans. Citing nonpartisan congressional projections, Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), the committee’s top Democrat, warned that proposed Medicaid cuts could result in 8.6 million people losing coverage.
“No previous law or event in modern history has triggered this level of healthcare loss — not even the Great Depression,” Boyle said.
The Republican tax-cut package would also scale back federal subsidies for health insurance plans offered through the Affordable Care Act, further fueling Democratic opposition. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) called the bill “morally bankrupt and fiscally irresponsible.”
Despite the failed committee vote, many lawmakers view the setback as temporary. GOP leaders still expect to bring a revised bill to the House floor, but any new version will require delicate negotiations to bridge the widening gap between moderates and hardliners.
Meanwhile, Trump remains insistent on swift action. His campaign has touted the tax cuts as essential to revitalizing the economy and securing the support of working-class voters heading into the 2026 midterms.
For now, however, the fate of Trump’s marquee tax legislation hangs in limbo, caught between competing Republican priorities and rising fiscal anxieties over the nation’s $36.2 trillion debt.
