House Republicans wrestle with how to make $1.5 trillion in cuts

After a frenzied week of small group meetings, leadership listening sessions and private committee discussions, House Republicans are still grappling with core disagreements over how they will extract $1.5 trillion in savings over the next decade. Questions over how to overhaul Medicaid and which tax provisions to pay for are front and center and the divides are still so entrenched that GOP members and aides aren’t ready to begin hearings next week on key elements of the bill.

After a frenzied week of small group meetings, leadership listening sessions and private committee discussions, House Republicans are still grappling with core disagreements over how they will extract $1.5 trillion in savings over the next decade. Questions over how to overhaul Medicaid and which tax provisions to pay for are front and center and the divides are still so entrenched that GOP members and aides aren’t ready to begin hearings next week on key elements of the bill. To sum it up, one GOP member close to the talks told CNN when asked about Medicaid negotiations, “we’re not in a good spot, but we’re gonna get there.” Asked about tax negotiations, “we’re not in a good spot, but we’re gonna get there,” they repeated. The reality of what $1.5 trillion in cuts actually looks like and the very real impact they could have on constituents is beginning to take hold in the House GOP conference. It’s making rank-and-file members – especially swing-district members – incredibly nervous that moving ahead with them could hand Democrats a messaging playbook for 2026 that will be hard to combat. The bottom line: Speaker Mike Johnson hoped to have this bill passed out of the House by Memorial Day. The fact that key committees are still wrestling with basic decisions on which direction to go shows that it’s getting harder and harder to see how Republicans are going to meet that ambitious deadline. Can it happen? Absolutely. Johnson has demonstrated time and time again he can defy expectations and President Donald Trump has helped get Republicans in line before. But in Congress, things typically take longer than leadership predicts they will. The House Agriculture Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee are no longer planning to move ahead next week to approve portions of the President’s agenda. They will now aim for the week of May 12, the same as the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee. But the schedule is tenuous because the biggest sticking points all are within their jurisdiction.