House moves Trump's budget bill forward: Here's what's next

The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives narrowly approved a budget framework that advances up to $1.5 trillion in tax breaks and cuts. 

The 216-214 vote pushed the budget plan forward, one more milestone for House Speaker Mike Johnson, who could only lose a few detractors from his slim Republican majority.

Johnson was forced to abandon Wednesday's scheduled budget vote as GOP hard-liners refused to support it and risked upending what the president calls the "big, beautiful bill," which is central to his agenda of tax cuts, mass deportations and a smaller federal government.

Which tax cuts are included? 

By the numbers:

Central to the budget framework is the Republican effort to preserve the tax breaks approved in 2017, during Trump's first term, while potentially adding the new ones he promised on the campaign trail. That includes no taxes on tipped wages, Social Security income and others, ballooning the price tag to some $7 trillion over the decade.

The package also allows for budget increases with some $175 billion to pay for Trump's mass deportation operation and as much for the Defense Department to bolster military spending.

It all would be partly paid for with steep cuts to domestic programs, including health care, as part of the $2 trillion in reductions outlined in the House GOP version of the package, though several GOP senators have signaled they are not willing to go that far.

Dig deeper:

To clip costs, the Senate is using an unusual accounting method that does not count the costs of preserving the 2017 tax cuts, some $4.5 trillion, as new spending, another factor that enraged House conservatives.

The package would also boost the nation's debt limit to allow more borrowing to pay the bills. Trump had wanted lawmakers to take the politically difficult issue off the table. With debt now at $36 trillion, the Treasury Department has said it will run out of funds by August.

The other side:

Democrats didn’t have enough votes to stop the package, but have spoken out against it. 

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said the Republicans' budget plan is reckless and callous as it proposes slashing budgets to give tax breaks to the wealthy.

FILE - Sunrise turns the sky orange behind the U.S. Capitol building as it illuminates the U.S. Flags circling the base of the Washington Monument on March 23, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Photo by J. David Ake/Getty Images)

"We’re here to make it clear," Jeffries said. "Hands off everyday Americans struggling to make ends meet."

When is the next budget vote? 

What's next:

The House and Senate are still at the beginning phase of a process that will take weeks, if not months, as they turn their budget resolutions into legislative text — a final product with more votes ahead later this spring or summer.