Setback for Trump budget as Republican rebels block vote

Republican-led Congress struggles to pass budget resolution for Trump's tax cuts amid conservative rebellion, delaying domestic agenda.

The U.S. Congress failed Wednesday (April 9, 2025) to pass a budget resolution to tee up U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping proposed tax cuts, after Republican leaders were forced by a conservative rebellion to cancel a vote on the blueprint.

The House of Representatives and Senate are both Republican-led but fiscal hawks in the House are furious over what they see as insufficient cuts in the plan passed Saturday by the Senate.

The two sides need to adopt identical versions before they can move on Mr. Trump's domestic agenda, led by a $5 trillion extension of his expiring 2017 tax cuts, beefed up border security and boosted energy production.

Several members of Johnson's razor-thin 220-213 majority made clear they would reject the text despite hours of fraught negotiations with their Senate counterparts to eke out more savings — forcing the postponement.

"I don't think we're going to have a vote tonight... maybe we take a little more time," Johnson told reporters at the Capitol, according to Fox News.

Mr. Johnson's pledge to get the budget framework to Mr. Trump's desk before Congress breaks for two weeks on Thursday (April 10, 2025) now looks in jeopardy as the Republican leadership scrambles for a Plan B.

The party could try to bring the budget resolution to the floor on Thursday (April 10, 2025), or appease the right wing with changes to the text and send it back to the Senate — meaning delays that would frustrate Mr. Trump.