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President Donald Trump’s top budget man huddled with House Republicans behind closed doors on Tuesday in a bid to quell a potential conservative mutiny over Speaker Mike Johnson’s latest ploy to pass the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act.
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought pressed House GOP lawmakers to take the initial steps in passing a new $95 billion budget bill that would include funding for Trump’s war with Iran, aid for U.S. farmers, and additional money to states to carry out election integrity measures.
Trump has thrown his support behind the measure, but some fiscal hawks have been indicating as recently as Tuesday morning that they were concerned about the lack of budget cuts to offset the new federal spending.
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But during their meeting, Vought told House Republicans that spending cuts could be sought via another budget bill to be completed after the current legislation, multiple people told Fox News Digital.
The SAVE America Act has been stalled in the Senate, where at least some Democrats are needed to join the GOP in breaking a filibuster to advance to a final vote. It passed the House in February.
The latest House GOP plan would pass the bill via the budget reconciliation process, which would skirt Democrats’ opposition by lowering the Senate’s threshold for advancement to just a simple majority. Republicans used the maneuver to pass Trump’s One Big, Beautiful Bill Act and add additional funding for immigration enforcement.
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A potential fourth budget bill would seek to cut spending by rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse after the current bill is completed. Johnson has already been making a similar pitch to some House lawmakers, Fox News Digital was told Monday.
The first chamber-wide step in the reconciliation process is to pass a framework that directs the relevant committees to then craft details dealing with their allocated budgets. Those details are then put back into a single sweeping bill that must pass the House and Senate before getting to Trump’s desk for his signature.
Some fiscal hawks said during the meeting that they would support the legislation as long as it did not water down the SAVE America Act, which Vought indicated it would not, sources told Fox News Digital.
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“I’m focused on the SAVE America Act. It is the most important bill. I’m willing to eat some spending to get that across the line,” Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital. Asked if he was confident the reconciliation bill would get that accomplished, Self said, “That’s what we were told.”
At least one House Republican, Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz., pressed Vought about his concerns about the increase in federal spending in the current legislation. Schweikert went as far as to say he was disgusted by the push to increase spending without cutting it elsewhere, Fox News Digital was told.
Vought responded that he had years of experience writing conservative Republican budgets and pointed out that Republicans had already achieved spending reductions during this term, Fox News Digital was told.
Other fiscal hawks also appeared to have lingering concerns.
Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., who told Fox News Digital he was skeptical of the bill on Monday, indicated to reporters after the meeting that he had outstanding concerns.
“I spoke at the microphone. I said that right now I’m having a hard time, with that, with that bill, I want to have discussions if they need my vote,” Burlison said. “I just wanted to let them know if you’re doing a whip count right now, I wouldn’t put me in the yes column…I’m not 100% convinced that the SAVE language is going to be held solid through the Senate. In fact, I would bet against it. I just, I don’t have any confidence that the Senate will keep that language tight.”
One source in the room told Fox News Digital that another fiscal hawk, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, suggested he was inclined to vote for the budget framework.
Roy told Fox News Digital he was undecided, however.
“People wonder why the so-called 3AM caucus exists and why we hold our votes to the last minute to put pressure on Republicans in Congress to deliver? It’s because they revert to the mean — which is spending, amnesty, unlimited immigration, and political show votes. I want FULL SAVE. I want this unpaid-for spending to be paid for in the 4th reconciliation bill. I want clarity on our war mission while we are backfilling munitions,” he said.
Some Republicans are also unsure if they could complete a fourth reconciliation bill before the end of this year, given their slim margins.
One House GOP lawmaker, who was granted anonymity to speak freely, only texted Fox News Digital a GIF of Ryan Gosling stifling a laugh when asked if they believed another bill could be done.
Rep. Lloyd Smucker, R-Pa., told Fox News Digital, “I don’t know about 4.0,” but added he would like to see more spending cuts.
The SAVE America Act would require proof of citizenship in the voter registration process and implementation of federal voter ID standards.
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