Johnson says House Budget committee will still vote on legislative package Friday, despite holdouts

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Thursday said the House Budget Committee meeting on Friday will continue as planned, which will include a vote on the GOP's legislative package, even though holdouts remain.

A key block of Republican lawmakers have sworn to oppose the package, including two Republicans on the budget committee: Reps. Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Chip Roy of Texas.

Johnson did not seem swayed by the two holdouts, predicting the meeting, which will compile separate parts of the package into one bill, will see the package advance out of committee.

“We’re having a Budget Committee meeting tomorrow. That’s the plan,” Johnson told reporters, per The Hill. “It’ll get out of Budget. I’m confident.”

Norman said that he is still planning to vote against the package, but if GOP leadership wants him to vote in favor of the bill it would need to accelerate Medicaid work requirements to take effect immediately, expedite the rollback of Biden-era green-energy tax credits, and expedite the benefit blocks on illegal migrants.

“You do those three things, we’ll get it through,” Norman said.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told reporters that House leadership “absolutely” intends to change the bill to speed up the new Medicaid work requirements, but Norman said that alone was not enough.

Other Republican committee members had also signaled opposition to the current plan before Johnson met with members on the House floor. Georgia Rep. Andrew Clyde said he would vote against the bill in committee, and Oklahoma Rep. Josh Brecheen said he was “not a yes." They have not commented since.

Johnson can only afford one Republican holdout on the package in the committee, because another GOP member is absent due to the birth of his son. 

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