A variety of adjectives come to mind when assessing congressional Republicans’ plans for the year, including some obvious descriptions such as “regressive” and “misguided.”
But just as notable is the degree to which the GOP agenda is expensive. Tax breaks for the wealthy and big corporations aren’t going to pay for themselves — despite partisan claims to the contrary — and the party’s border policies similarly carry a hefty price tag.
With this in mind, the first question facing Republicans is whether to try to pay for their priorities. The answer might seem obvious given the fact that the GOP at least pretends to take fiscal responsibility seriously, but in recent decades, Republican administrations and their allies on Capitol Hill have generally been quite comfortable approving their policy goals and putting the costs on the national charge card, resulting in ballooning deficits and adding trillions of dollars to the national debt.
But if the party answers the first question by deciding to at least make an effort, a second question soon follows: How, exactly, will GOP officials pay for their plans? According to a Politico report, House Republicans are considering a “menu” that’s circulating on the Hill.
House Republicans are passing around a “menu” of more than $5 trillion in cuts they could use to bankroll President-elect Donald Trump’s top priorities this year, including tax cuts and border security. The early list of potential spending offsets obtained by POLITICO includes changes to Medicare and ending Biden administration climate programs, along with slashing welfare and “reimagining” the Affordable Care Act.
While the reporting hasn’t been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, Politico published a copy of the “menu” online.
Politico’s report added:
Five people familiar with the document said those provisions are options to finance Republicans’ massive party-line reconciliation bill or other spending reform efforts, including those being spearheaded by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. The people, granted anonymity to discuss closed-door negotiations, said that the list originated from the House Budget Committee, chaired by Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas).
It’s quite a list, according to the GOP’s own estimates, if Republicans were to approve all of the proposed cuts, it would add up to savings of between $5.3 trillion and $5.7 trillion over the next decade — and that, in turn, would help finance a whole lot of tax breaks for people and corporations that don’t need them.
The document obtained by Politico effectively offers a blueprint for a party intent on redistributing wealth — in the wrong direction. To help pay for tax breaks, for example, the congressional Republicans’ “menu” includes deep cuts to Medicaid, Medicare reimbursement policies, the Affordable Care Act, food stamps, and efforts to combat the climate crisis.
Adding insult to injury, the authors of the GOP’s document came up with a series of Orwellian phrases to help frame the possible cuts. Bullet points related to slashing Medicaid, for example, come under a header that reads, “Making Medicaid Work For The Most Vulnerable.” Cuts to food stamps are described as “Ending Cradle-To-Grave Dependence.” Cuts to the ACA are presented as “Reimagining The Affordable Care Act.”
Evidently, the party believes pleasant-sounding phrasing will make these regressive policies more politically palatable. It’s a familiar tactic, of course, which invariably fails.
The larger question, however, isn’t whether the public will be fooled by tiresome spin, it’s whether congressional Republicans will remain fully united in support of these unpopular and unnecessary measures.
It’s a familiar detail, but it bears repeating: The House GOP’s majority in the last Congress was tiny, and in the new Congress, it’s even smaller. In the coming weeks and months, if even a couple of House Republicans balk at their party’s legislative plans, those bills will fail.
If you’re a GOP member of Congress from a competitive district — or worse, a district that backed Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 cycle — and your party asks you to support an agenda that takes health care benefits from poor families to finance tax breaks for billionaires, are you likely to think twice? The question answers itself.
When Politico asked one senior GOP lawmaker if there were any particularly controversial spending offsets dividing Republicans, the member answered, “They all feel pretty controversial.” Given the size of the party’s margins on the Hill, GOP leaders have reason to be concerned.
