WASHINGTON — The House Budget Committee won’t mark up a budget blueprint for its massive spending bill this week, throwing a wrench in Republican leaders’ plans to get a head start on President Donald Trump’s agenda.

The committee was expected to draft budget instructions this week, which would lay out the top-line spending numbers for individual committees to begin crafting their portions of the spending package. However, the panel won’t meet this week to start that process, a source familiar confirmed to the Deseret News, sending party leaders back to square one on a process they began months ago.

House Republicans met last week for their annual retreat in Miami, Florida, where party leaders outlined their proposal for the reconciliation package. That initial package included more than $500 billion in spending cuts, a lawmaker familiar with the talks said, but would have included roughly $325 billion in new spending for border security and other defense costs.

A number of hard-liners relented on that proposal, prompting GOP leaders back to the drawing board. They then returned with a proposal of $700 billion in spending cuts, but that failed to convince some of those in the right flank.

Rep. Ralph Norman, R-N.C., for example, is pushing for at least $2 trillion in cuts — far above the current proposals.

Talks began to fall apart during a House Budget Committee call on Sunday as cracks began to form on a top-line number and goal for spending cuts, sources familiar with the call said.

President Donald Trump speaks as Commerce Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick listens in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, in Washington, as Trump prepares to sign an executive order. | Evan Vucci

One lawmaker involved with the talks said disagreements stemmed from what spending reform should look like in the reconciliation package and whether the bill would move the country toward becoming deficit neutral “or better.”

As a result, the Budget Committee won’t be able to finalize its blueprint, delaying Speaker Mike Johnson’s ambitious timeline to compile the spending package and pass it through Congress sometime in April.

Meanwhile, Senate Republicans are reportedly raring to go with an alternative route to fast-track a reconciliation package as their colleagues. That plan would advance a two-bill package, which Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has been urging despite pushback from House Republican leaders who want to pass just one massive spending bill.

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Under that plan, it’s likely the Senate would move to pass a first reconciliation bill that includes Trump’s proposals for immigration and energy policies, with a more complex tax-focused package to follow later in the year.

Some hardline Republicans in the House, including those on the conservative House Freedom Caucus, have also pushed for a two-bill strategy despite leaders such as Johnson urging policy wins in one fell swoop, warning that the policies implemented in Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would expire if they are not included in the first go-around. Portions of those cuts are scheduled to lapse at the end of 2025.

Lawmakers involved in the Budget Committee talks over the weekend noted that much of the disagreements lie with the number of spending cuts rather than the one-bill versus two-bill strategy. Other members say they are cautiously optimistic the process can still be worked out in the House before the Senate takes over.

It’s not clear if or when the Senate would move forward with such a plan, and Thune said the timeline mostly depends on “what the House is going to do.”

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