Republican fiscal hawks remind Johnson that Trump's budget must not add to US deficit

More than two dozen Republican lawmakers on Wednesday warned House Speaker Mike Johnson against letting a major bill in Congress related to President Donald Trump's tax agenda add to the U.S. deficit.

House Republicans are currently crafting legislation to fund the federal government through the next fiscal year, which they are hoping to push forward by the end of May. Lately, they have been bogged down over cuts to Medicaid and taxes.

The lawmakers reaffirmed their support for Trump's “big, beautiful bill” in a letter to Johnson and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, but urged them to make more cuts to avoid adding to the growing deficit, The Hill reported. 

“Under the House’s framework, the reconciliation bill must not add to the deficit," the lawmakers wrote. "The House budget resolution assumes that enacting President Trump’s agenda, including extending the 2017 tax cuts, will generate $2.5 trillion in additional revenue through economic growth. This means that all additional tax cuts or increases in spending above this level must be offset.”

Congressional Republicans in both chambers are attempting to make cuts to federal spending while also boosting defense spending and funding for deportations. Some Republicans are also hoping to eliminate taxes on tips and overtime pay, as President Trump has called for.

“We just got concerned with what we’re hearing around the savings,” GOP Pennsylvania Rep. Lloyd Smucker told reporters. “So, we just wanted to remind everyone that we all want to get this bill done, but there’s a framework within the budget reconciliation that we think is very important and that we intend to stick to.”

Smucker led the letter, which was also signed by GOP Reps. Andy Harris of Maryland, Chip Roy of Texas and David Schweikert of Arizona, among others.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.