With Hundreds of Billions of Funds on the Line for Rural America, Republicans Push Megabill Through Budget Committee.
The Republican Budget Committee advanced their budget reconciliation bill late Sunday night through promises and legislative maneuvers. This week could be critical to rural people + rural economies.
BRIEF UPDATE—Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA, 4th) convinced four Republican holdouts on the House Budget Committee to vote “present” rather than “no” on the GOP budget conciliation package late Sunday night (May 18, 2025). This legislative maneuver advanced the Trump Megabill to a likely floor vote this week on their package of massive cuts to Medicaid, SNAP nutrition benefits, and other critical domestic spending to pave the way for tax cuts for the rich. Rural America would see huge declines in federal spending that drives many local economies if the bill passes.
The Republican budget reconciliation bill now moves to the Rules Committee before the pending floor vote.
Though no details are currently available, proposed changes to the budget bill include speeding up implementation of work requirements for Medicaid, winding down clean energy tax credits, and ending benefits to what the GOP calls “undocumented immigrants.”
Representatives Josh Brecheen (R-OK, 2nd), Andrew Clyde (R-GA, 9th), Ralph Norman (R-SC, 5th), and Chip Roy (R-TX, 21st) all voted present rather than no like they did on Friday to allow the bill to move forward. All are members of the House Freedom Caucus that seeks to make deep cuts to budgets and deficits.
The Republican budget bill remains a work-in-progress. It is not yet clear if Speaker Johnson has the votes to pass the GOP budget proposal on the House floor.
Hundreds of billions of dollars are on the line for rural America. Deep cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, rural development, federal agencies that serve rural people, the growing clean energy economy, local food efforts, and much more would have deep impacts on rural people and communities.
The Republican budget reconciliation package would slash federal funding and services in order to cut taxes. The proposed GOP tax cuts would primarily benefit multimillionaires and wealthy corporations.
The Cocklebur covers rural policy and politics from a progressive point-of-view. Our work focuses on a tangled rural political reality of dishonest debate, economic and racial disparities, corporate power over our democracy, and disinformation peddled by conservative media outlets. We aim to use facts, data, and science to inform our point-of-view. We wear our complicated love/WTF relationship with rural America on our sleeve.