One Big Beautiful Budget Resolution
Just over a month into President Donald Trump’s second term, his administration is off to an aggressive start. Commissioned with a mandate from the people to restore American prosperity, the president has moved without delay to reassert common sense in the Executive Branch, rein in government overreach, and demonstrate international leadership. House Republicans are matching his stride, and this week, I supported House passage of legislation to set the stage to fulfill his agenda for historic growth and opportunity.
This resolution initiates a legislative mechanism referred to as reconciliation to provide a budgetary framework for enacting fiscal policy. As a first step in the reconciliation process, the budget resolution makes no changes to current law and is not signed by the president. Instead, it instructs congressional committees to propose legislation under guidelines related to federal spending, revenue, and debt. This will empower Congress to deliver on the promises Republicans and President Trump have made to minimize the tax burdens for Americans across the income spectrum, secure our borders, end the previous administration’s war on affordable energy, and unleash economic growth.
Over the last four years, open border policies have eroded the rule of law, energy costs have skyrocketed, and our economy has suffered due to the extreme government spending levels ushered in by President Biden. According to the Joint Economic Committee, across the four years from January 2021 to December 2024, the average Nebraskan household cumulatively paid $34,353 more in living expenses due to inflation.
The resolution passed by the House would allow us to extend and expand the tax relief I supported and which President Trump signed into law in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). TCJA policies to nearly double the standard deduction, increase the child tax credit, and increase the thresholds for Section 179 expensing and bonus depreciation were enormously effective, allowing families to keep more of their paychecks and supercharging growth for small businesses.
If these tax cuts are allowed to expire, it would be the most severe tax hike in American history. The average American worker would pay thousands more in taxes, and family farms, ranches, and small businesses would suffer from immediate and sharp rate increases. While simultaneously serving to avert this economic disaster, the House budget would reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio by eight percentage points and secure the most mandatory savings ever enacted—beating the record by 400 percent. It also includes 800 billion dollars in savings on discretionary spending. In the same way tax revenues under TJCA outpaced projections, the economic growth fueled by extending these tax cuts will serve to expand revenues needed to reduce the federal deficit.
The framework passed by the House would make it possible to enact President Trump’s entire agenda, including securing our borders and encouraging American energy abundance. Biden-Harris policies allowed record numbers of illegal immigrants to flow into our country unchecked and inflated energy prices through burdensome regulations and Green New Scam spending. Our budget invests $90 billion in border security and embraces an all-of-the-above approach to energy production.
While advancing the budget resolution is just one step in the reconciliation process, it is a major step forward to working with the Senate to advance policies the president will sign. The American people deserve a safe and prosperous future for themselves and their families. Contrary to the unsecure border, failed economic policies, and unaffordable energy we saw under the previous presidential administration, House Republicans have come together to advance President Trump’s agenda and put us back on the path to freedom and opportunity.