Business

Heritage pushes alternative to GOP budget

by Niv Elis - 10/03/17 6:12 PM ET

The advocacy group Heritage Action is pushing the House to support a more conservative alternative to the Republican budget plan in a floor vote on Thursday.

The group put out a key vote alert Tuesday telling members to vote for an amendment that would replace the current plan with the Republican Study Committee’s (RSC) budget, a proposal put forth by the conservative GOP caucus in July.

“Taken as a whole, the RSC’s ‘Securing America’s Future Economy’ demonstrates a seriousness of purpose when it comes to governing,” Heritage Action spokesman Dan Holler said in the release.

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“If passed, this budget would provide a fiscally responsible path forward for our nation, limit the size and scope of our bloated federal government, and unleash economic prosperity for all Americans,” he added.

Republicans have worked for months to gather support for the budget headed for a floor vote on Thursday, working out compromises between military hawks who wanted higher defense spending and budget hawks who insisted on spending cuts to reduce the deficit.

The main role of the budget, however, is to set the stage for tax reform, which the GOP hopes to pass using the filibuster-proof budget reconciliation process.

With House appropriations bills already passed and the Senate working off a different spending plan, the budget’s role in outlining spending for the fiscal year is significantly diminished.

The RSC put out its version of the plan, which aggressively tackled deficits and spending, after the House Budget Committee marked up its budget with unanimous GOP support. The purpose, the RSC leadership said, was to provide a more conservative governing blueprint.

The RSC is the largest GOP subgroup in the House, counting more than half of Republicans in the lower chamber among its ranks.

Tags Heritage Action