Most lunatic faction of GOP opposes reconciliation for not denying enouugh poor people healthcare quickly enough

On their own extremely immoral terms, there is a small shred of integrity here:

House Republican spending hawks blocked the party’s giant tax-and-spending bill on Friday, delivering President Trump a setback over disagreements on Medicaid, clean-energy tax breaks and budget deficits.

The holdouts—Reps. Chip Roy of Texas, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma and Andrew Clyde of Georgia—stopped the Budget Committee from advancing the legislation, which leaders hope to pass by the full House next week. The panel failed to move the bill on a 16-21 vote, with those four Republicans and Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R., Pa.) joining all Democrats in opposition. Smucker, who backs the measure, said he voted no for procedural reasons, so he can call for a revote later.

Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R., Texas) said the panel hoped to resume Monday and that lawmakers were close to agreements on making changes to win the necessary votes. 

“This bill falls profoundly short,” Roy said, adding that discussions were continuing and possible through the weekend. “I am a no on this bill unless serious reforms are made.”

The delay throws at least a temporary wrench in House Republican leaders’ hopes to keep intraparty dissent at bay ahead of a self-imposed Memorial Day deadline. Trump, who has helped Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) muscle through close votes several times this year, had urged lawmakers to get in line.  

“We don’t need ‘GRANDSTANDERS’ in the Republican Party,” he posted on Truth Social on Friday morning ahead of the committee vote. “STOP TALKING AND GET IT DONE!” 

Roy and others say Republicans say the current plan misses a rare chance to alter the nation’s red-ink trajectory by reducing spending on growing social-safety-net programs. They want Medicaid work requirements to start sooner than 2029, as the current bill does. They want faster removal of clean-energy tax credits, which the current bill phases out over several years. They warn that the bill, as written, front-loads tax cuts in the next few years and delays spending cuts. That combination, they argue, means that budget deficits could be significantly higher in the short run.

Note the staggering cynicism of the House leadership here — deliver the tax cuts up front, leave the devastating and extremely unpopular Medicaid cuts in the next president’s lap. (This should also be a reminder that Democrats need to be thinking really hard about how to get a Senate majority.) Deeply loony as they are, Roy et al. want Trump to take responsibility for the cuts. This is particularly interesting for the shape of what passes, but normally what happens is that the “moderates” just cave. But I’m not sure a bill that kicks millions of people of Medicaid before a non-Trump president can be blamed for it can pass the Senate.

Meanwhile, House “moderates” have their own ask, and needless to say it’s a specific upper-class tax cut:

Republican leaders are negotiating with the conservative holdouts and simultaneously with lawmakers from New York, New Jersey and California, who want a higher cap on the state and local tax deduction. The current bill would raise the $10,000 cap to $30,000 and start phasing that down once income reaches $400,000, but Reps. Mike Lawler (R., N.Y.) and Nick LaLota (R., N.Y.) say that isn’t enough in their high-tax, high-income districts. 

It is possible that front-line GOP backbenchers will accept quicker Medicaid cuts if they can get there bigger SALT exemption. But not enough people itemize their taxes to make that pay off politically.