House Budget Panel Advances $95 Billion Iran War Package as GOP Eyes Rare Saturday Session
The House Budget Committee approved a $95 billion party-line reconciliation blueprint for Iran war funding, farm aid and voter-ID measures on July 16, teeing up a full House vote next week even as Senate Republicans signaled deep skepticism. The chamber convenes for a rare Saturday pro forma session today to keep the effort on track.
Congressional activity over the past two days centered on House Republicans' push to open a third budget reconciliation process before the August recess. Republicans on the House Budget Committee advanced a $95 billion package Thursday for the Iran war, farm aid and President Donald Trump's push for strict new voter ID requirements, moving forward on a party-line vote despite trouble in the full House — and the Senate. The panel advanced the GOP-backed budget resolution on a strictly party-line vote of 20-14 after rejecting 14 amendments, all offered by Democrats. But in one sign of potential trouble as the resolution heads to the House floor, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a Budget member who also serves on the powerful Rules Committee, did not vote at Thursday's markup.
Reconciliation is a procedure that lets the majority party bypass the Senate's 60-vote filibuster threshold and pass certain spending and tax legislation with a simple majority. The resolution includes $60 billion for the Armed Services Committee, which would be put toward military spending as the Iran war escalates; $12 billion for the Agriculture Committee for farm assistance; and $10 billion for the House Administration Committee, which could be used on election-related funding as Republicans look for ways to include elements of Trump's SAVE America Act. Because reconciliation bills must relate to spending and taxes, only a limited portion of the voter-ID legislation could move this way. Notably, the plan includes no offsets. According to NBC News, with no plans to seek Democratic votes, passing it will be a herculean task given the unpopularity of the Iran war, the lack of spending cuts to offset the new spending, and the limits of the budget process.
To keep the timeline intact, the House is meeting today. As the AP reported, next steps are highly volatile, as the House holds a rare Saturday pro forma session, which is a largely administrative meeting that will allow the resolution to be filed in time for consideration next week. Speaker Mike Johnson can afford few defections. The resolution would also have to be agreed on by the Senate, and Republican senators have largely panned the House effort, waiting to see if Johnson can heave it to passage. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said senators have "a lot of questions" about it – from defense hawks concerned about the military to deficit hawks who want to offset costs.
The reconciliation drive is unfolding alongside a stalled annual defense bill. Senate Democrats on July 14 blocked the annual defense bill, denying cloture on the motion to proceed to the $1.15 trillion FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act by a vote of 50-46, far short of the 60 required. The vote fell along party lines, with one procedural exception: Majority Leader John Thune switched his own vote from "yes" to "no," the maneuver that preserves his right to bring the measure back to the floor later. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer framed his opposition around the Iran conflict, calling the measure a "permission slip" for the war.
Elsewhere on the House floor, lawmakers took up veterans-related measures July 16. According to the House Republican Cloakroom, a motion to recommit the Take Care of America's Veterans Act (H.R. 9237) failed 210-211, and a bill to name a VA multispecialty clinic in Marietta, Georgia, passed 418-0.
Congress also absorbed a personnel change this week. Roll Call reported that following the sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on July 11, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster chose Graham's sister, Darline Graham, to serve out his term, and she was sworn in on Tuesday. The full House is scheduled to take up the budget resolution and other business next week before the five-week August recess begins.
Highlights: - The House Budget Committee advanced the fiscal 2027 budget resolution on a party-line 20-14 vote after rejecting 14 Democratic amendments; conservative Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, did not vote at the markup. - Senate Democrats blocked the $1.15 trillion National Defense Authorization Act (S.4784) on a 50-46 cloture vote July 14, well short of the 60 needed, in protest of the Iran war; Majority Leader John Thune switched his vote to preserve the option to revive it. - The House rejected a motion to recommit the Take Care of America's Veterans Act (H.R. 9237) by 210-211 (Roll no. 249) on July 16, and unanimously passed a VA clinic naming bill (H.R. 5362) 418-0.