Republican Rep. Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma’s 2nd Congressional District joined five Republicans and more than a dozen Democrats on the House Budget Committee in voting down President Donald Trump’s "big, beautiful bill."
The sprawling funding package contains $5 trillion in tax breaks and at least $1.5 trillion in cuts to Medicaid, food stamps, and green energy, according to news reports.
NOTUS reports Brecheen’s main concern is around the 2029 date for repealing Inflation Reduction Act tax credits.
The Freedom Caucus, of which Brecheen is a member, has said Medicaid work requirements don’t go far enough at cost-cutting.
The reconciliation bill will increase the country’s approximately $36 trillion in debt by up to $7 trillion, according to Brett Loper, executive vice president for policy at billionaire-funded Peter G. Peterson Foundation.
In an interview with KWGS, Loper addressed contradictory messaging from Trump’s administration around savings. Thousands of federal employees have been fired and departments stripped down as the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, looks for trims.
“There are varying views about the analysis they are doing and some of the conclusions that are being drawn by the DOGE efforts.
“The reality is, even if they’re wildly successful, it’s only going to be a drop in the bucket in solving the problem. The government runs roughly, for this fiscal year, will run a $2 trillion deficit, which is massive, so large it’s hard to wrap your mind around. And in order to address that, sort of an all range of options. I joke it’s like D, all of the above, to begin to stabilize the trajectory,” said Loper.
Lawmakers say they will work over the weekend to resolve conflicts.
“Reps. Roy, Norman, Brecheen, Clyde and others continue to work in good faith to enact the President’s ‘Big Beautiful Bil’ — we were making progress before the vote in the Budget Committee and will continue negotiations to further improve the reconciliation package. We are not going anywhere and we will continue to work through the weekend," the House Freedom Caucus posted on X.
