by Misty Severi
The House of Representatives on Wednesday narrowly passed the Republican-led $95 billion budget plan that includes billions in funding for the conflict in the Middle East and for farmers.
The blueprint passed in a slim 216-to-214 split with just two Republicans voting against the legislation despite concern about the high price tag for defense spending. The plan would provide up to $73 billion in additional military funding for the conflict with Iran.
The legislation also directs the House Agriculture Committee to write legislation that provides up to $12 billion for farmers and the House Administration Committee was given up to $10 billion to come up with legislation to incentivize states to adopt some of President Donald Trump’s voting restrictions.
This budget resolution serves as a procedural framework rather than final law in that it sets spending targets and reconciliation instructions for House committees, but does not itself appropriate funds, raise the debt ceiling, or enact policy changes. It allows Republicans to pursue a subsequent reconciliation bill that can pass the Senate with a simple majority, bypassing a potential Democratic filibuster on defense supplemental funding, farm aid, and election-related measures. However, it does not guarantee passage of the full package, lock in offsets for the new spending, or address broader appropriations fights such as government funding deadlines.
Following House approval, the Senate must now take up and pass an identical version of the resolution for the process to advance. If the Senate amends it, the House would need to vote again on the updated text. Once both chambers agree, the relevant committees (Armed Services, Intelligence, Agriculture, and Administration) will draft the detailed SAVE and Protect America Act provisions, which would then return to each chamber for final votes before heading to the president.
“Today, House Republicans passed the Budget Resolution for Reconciliation 3.0 — the SAVE and Protect America Act — which puts Congressional Republicans on a path to enacting two fundamentally simple and crucial goals: securing American elections and strengthening our homeland by providing supplemental funding requested by the Administration to support our national defense and protect our nation’s food supply,” House Republican leadership said in a joint statement.
“This Budget Resolution is our best shot at enacting as much of the SAVE America Act into law as possible,” the statement continued. “This is a bill that every Republican in Congress can and should get behind.”
GOP Reps. Warren Davidson of Ohio and Thomas Massie of Kentucky voted against the budget resolution, along with independent California Rep. Kevin Kiley, who caucuses with Republicans.
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Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage. Executive Editor of The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network Christina Botteri contributed to this report.
