House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith said Tuesday he will not support the next budget reconciliation bill unless it includes tax provisions.
As House Republicans prepared to follow last summer’s tax and spending megabill with passage of a party-line immigration enforcement package as soon as Tuesday night, conversations shifted to what the GOP might put in a third filibuster-skirting reconciliation measure.
House GOP leaders have been meeting with different factions of their conference, from moderates to hard-line conservatives, and have discussed cracking down on fraud in health care and other social programs as well as adding federal energy permitting provisions; leaders may try to revive a number of provisions that were ultimately not included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, such as one that would adjust a property’s purchase point for inflation.
Smith said he has a list of priorities that he would "be happy to release" once Speaker Mike Johnson confirms that taxes will be part of the next reconciliation package and that "I have not been notified whether tax is part of reconciliation yet," adding, "I'd love for the speaker to say tax is going to be a part of it."
A number of House Republicans, including those in leadership, voiced concerns that including tax provisions would allow Senate Democrats to force floor votes on politically fraught health care amendments, potentially creating difficult votes for vulnerable Republican senators just before the midterms.
Senate Finance Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) said Monday he did not know what discussions were happening in the House, that "there is a lot of tax law that would be helpful to do" in a third reconciliation bill and that "there are a number of reforms of the health care entitlement system — particularly the health care entitlement system — that I think would be very helpful and would not reduce health care access or reduce access to any of our safety net programs." He added, "These are always battles," and said, "I think the American people are completely ready to see us deal with waste, fraud and abuse in all government spending."