@cspanofficial: The Senate Budget Committee on Wednesday began its markup of a budget reconciliation bill that’s intended to serve as a blueprint to get President Trump’s border, energy and military agenda through Congress. The legislation will set the parameters for future legislation that can bypass the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster threshold, allowing Congress to enact the policies with only Republican votes. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), the panel’s chair, moved forward with the two-bill markup despite pleas from Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to allow the House to move first on its larger one-bill version that would also extend the 2017 tax cuts. “To my colleagues in the House, I hope you can pass one big, beautiful bill, meeting the priorities of President Trump and what we’ve been promising to do as a party. But we’ve got to move on this issue,” Sen. Graham said in his opening statement. The South Carolina Republican, a staunch Trump ally, said lawmakers must get to work right away, citing a recent briefing from border czar Tom Homan and White House Budget Director Russell Vought who said they urgently needed more resources to secure the border. “The reason I want to start and I want to start now is because there’s a sense of urgency about the immigration plan of President Trump,” Sen. Graham said. “The problem we have now is that ICE is running out of money.” The blueprint calls for a $150 billion increase in military spending and $175 billion for the border, including additional detention beds and ICE agents. Sen. Graham estimates the legislation would increase annual spending by about $85 billion, which he said would be paid for through unspecified spending cuts and new revenues from domestic drilling. Speaker Johnson called the Senate bill a nonstarter in the House, which is pursuing a one-bill approach in hopes of attracting more conservative votes in the narrowly divided lower chamber. The House bill, which will get marked up on Thursday, outlines at least $4.5 trillion in tax cuts while slashing spending by at least $1.5 trillion over the next decade. #lindseygraham #cspan

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Wednesday 12 February 2025 23:47:43 GMT