House GOP Gears Up For Trump’s “Big, Beautiful” Budget Brawl

House Republicans have returned to Washington after a two-week break, laser-focused on assembling the “big, beautiful bill” that’s set to carry President Trump’s legislative agenda, and they’re wasting no time getting to work.

Six of the 11 House committees tasked with piecing together the massive package are holding markups this week, with the others gearing up to join the push in the coming days. The plan is to stitch the various proposals together in the House Budget Committee before sending the final monster bill to the floor.

The Republicans are banking on the budget reconciliation process to ram the legislation through without needing a single Democrat vote, bypassing the Senate filibuster – which of course assumes the GOP can stay united. With a razor-thin margin, just four Republican defections could sink the entire package.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) had circled Memorial Day on the calendar as the deadline to get the bill on President Trump’s desk. But even getting it through the House within the next month looks dicey, thanks to intraparty squabbles over spending and tax cut details.

The action kicks off Tuesday with three committees, Armed Services, Homeland Security, and Education & Workforce – meeting at the same time.

The Armed Services Committee is proposing a staggering $150 billion in defense funding, including $34 billion for shipbuilding, $25 billion for a “Golden Dome” missile defense system, and $21 billion to restock America’s munitions. “President Trump has a visionary strategy of peace through strength, and this investment is how we begin to execute it,” said Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL).

Meanwhile, the Homeland Security Committee plans to shovel $46.5 billion into completing Trump’s border wall and boosting border security tech. There’s also $5 billion earmarked to upgrade Customs and Border Patrol facilities, $4.1 billion to hire over 8,000 new agents, and $2 billion to keep and recruit staff with bonuses.

The Education & Workforce Committee is doing its part to find savings, touting $330 billion in cuts by overhauling student loan programs. “This plan brings accountability and holds schools financially responsible for loading students up with debt,” said Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI).

But these are the easy fights. The real fireworks are expected when committees turn to tackling safety net programs like Medicaid and food stamps, and hammering out the details on tax cuts – areas where Republicans are eyeing even bigger savings but where internal divisions loom large.

Democrats aren’t sitting idly by. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) led a 12-hour sit-in on the Capitol steps Sunday to protest potential cuts to Medicaid and other safety net programs.

“As Democrats, we’re going to continue to stand on the side of the American people, and we will not rest until we bury this reckless Republican budget in the ground,” Jeffries vowed.

Booker chimed in, hoping enough Republicans could be pressured to “do the right thing and vote no.”

The legislative slog continues Wednesday, when the Judiciary, Financial Services, Oversight and Government Reform, and Transportation & Infrastructure committees dive into their pieces of the bill.

The Judiciary Committee’s slice is packed with immigration crackdowns: $45 billion to expand detention facilities, $14.4 billion for transport and removal ops, $8 billion to hire more ICE agents, and $1.25 billion for immigration judges and staff.

Oversight and Government Reform found more than $50 billion in offsets, including $31 billion from hiking federal workers’ retirement contributions and $10 billion by axing an early retirement annuity for most employees.

Financial Services would claw back unspent Inflation Reduction Act funds for green housing retrofits, fold the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board into the SEC, and cap the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s funding.

The Transportation & Infrastructure Committee is set to unveil its piece Tuesday.

With the clock ticking and tensions rising, the fate of Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” is barreling toward a showdown — and the GOP’s unity will be put to the ultimate test.