'We ought to pass that': GOP pressures Thune as he stalls budget vote

WASHINGTON, DC: While the House Republicans are urging the Senate to move fast on the reconciliation framework the House passed, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said that the upper chamber of the Senate will not take the budget resolution immediately, igniting a sharp reaction from Republicans.

Speaker Mike Johnson has spent days convincing skeptical conservative hard-liners, who had raised concerns about the lack of cuts to offset new spending in the package.

Republicans press John Thune to move budget quickly

The House’s adoption of the budget resolution marks the first step toward a third reconciliation bill that would fund defense and intelligence, agriculture aid, and Trump-backed election integrity initiatives.

However, Thune’s statement that the upper chamber will not take the matter immediately is not sitting well with Republicans.

“I just think that we ought to pass that as soon as we can. I think, you know, our troops and the military need that additional funding, and our farmers need help, so we need to pass that as soon as we can,” Rep Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla) said.

Rep Eli Crane (R-Ariz) echoed similar sentiments, saying, “I do think we should, you know, move to get it done as quickly as possible. I feel like we’re running out of time.”

Asked whether Thune’s strategy could narrow the timeline of getting a third bill done, Crane said, “It’s possible.”

Senate has two weeks to pass resolution

While the House lawmakers have already departed for a month-long August recess on Thursday, July 23, the Senate has only two weeks to move ahead with the budget resolution as the pressure from President Donald Trump on Thune to take up the resolution is mounting.

Along with the budget, the third reconciliation bill has aspects of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act packaged in it, as the budget resolution is being used as a vehicle to advance the election security bill.

The SAVE Act is a long-standing conservative priority that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and photo identification to cast a ballot.

Thune said on Thursday that the Senate GOP lacks the votes to advance the budget resolution. Senate conservatives have called for the cost of the package to be offset with spending cuts so it doesn’t add to the deficit.

“We’ll see. We’ll have those conversations with the conference. The priority is funding the government. To me, that’s the thing we've got to keep our eyes on,” Thune said.