Sen Tillis threatens to block budget reconciliation over SAVE America Act

House GOP leaders are scrambling to approve a sprawling budget reconciliation package packed with defense and election integrity priorities, but Republican lawmakers in both chambers are pouring cold water on the process.

Internal party skepticism, including concerns about a lack of spending offsets, casts the ambitious timeline into doubt. And the move to insert the RELIEVE America Act has already sidelined some GOP opponents.

RNC’s Sen. “If we keep layering on layers of complexity like another bogus attempt at the SAVE Act, then we will never get this done,” Thom Tillis said.

When asked if he thought it would include the legislation if he voted “No,” Tillis said, “Absolutely.”

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“I’m also going to slow down other things,” the retired senator said. “It’s a waste of time. It’s a futile effort and those are the only positive things I can say about them.”

Still, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., expressed confidence that both chambers could approve a budget plan, the first step in the complex reconciliation process, before lawmakers leave Washington for the August recess. The House Budget Committee advanced its budget plan on Thursday and begins floor review as soon as next week.

But across the building, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said Johnson’s assurance was “news to me.”

Thune acknowledged his desire to push both defense funding and the RELIEVE America Act through the party-line process, but warned of consequences along the way.

“Once again, there’s the $60 billion question of whether it’s worth the risk of introducing something like this and all the other harm that could come from it,” Thune said.

The shortened timeline means the House of Representatives is expected to go on August recess by the end of next week, while the Senate is expected to leave Washington D.C. in the first week of August. Some in the upper house argue that MPs should not go home if their work is not completed.

“If we don’t do this, I think we’re going to have to stay,” Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital.

The Trump administration is also providing support to advocates of reconciliation 3.0.

The White House sent an internal memo to Hill offices on Thursday expressing support for House Republicans’ $95 billion budget framework; This framework would allocate $73 billion to defense and intelligence funding, among other provisions, in the upcoming bill.

“Congress must immediately pass this budget resolution without any changes,” one section of the document said.

Several Republicans told Fox News Digital they believe it will be a tough sell.

As the White House seeks a third budget reconciliation package that includes elements of the SAVE America Act, several Republican senators whose political careers were effectively ended by President Donald Trump may stand in its way. (Nathan Posner/Anatolia via Getty Images; Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

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Rep. Kevin Kiley of California, an independent who caucuses with Republicans, told Fox News Digital that he was “skeptical” about the third compromise bill.

Kiley said he was concerned that $73 billion in defense funds could be spent with little congressional oversight.

“This is really our opportunity here for the House to assert itself in guiding the resolution of the conflict on acceptable terms,” ​​the California lawmaker said, referring to the war with Iran. he said.

Kiley also said he opposes the budget reconciliation process because it deliberately alienates Democrats from negotiations and that lawmakers should rely on the normal appropriations process.

He voted against Republicans’ $72 billion immigration enforcement funding package earlier this year because the measure was not accepted by Democrats.

Fiscal hawks in both chambers complained that the budget plan did not direct Congress to cut any spending; This move is almost certain to increase budget deficits and add to the national debt.

R-Mo. “I think you have to pay for this,” his representative Eric Burlison told reporters Thursday.

The lack of spending offsets also met with a cold reception in the upper hall.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who lost reelection to an opponent backed by Trump, wrote on social media Thursday: “Our national debt is a runaway train. The next compromise bill must be paid for in full.”

Burlison also said he does not support Republicans’ strategy to use a $10 billion pool of funds to distribute grants to encourage states to implement elements of the SAVE America Act, including citizenship verification and voter ID requirements.

He added that he could be persuaded to vote for the budget framework if GOP leaders can force Democratic-led states to implement those provisions.

“To me, if the language is weak, it’s not worth it,” he continued. “You have huge incentives in Obamacare, and you still have 11 states that are rejecting hundreds of millions of dollars to expand Medicaid. So it’s nothing for those states … if we’re just going to give them a few million dollars.”

Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., is among Republicans who have voiced concerns about Republicans’ $95 billion budget framework. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)

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What complicates matters is whether Trump could sign a compromise bill that doesn’t include the entire SAVE America Act, given how hard he’s pushing Republicans to sign everything into law.

“I know, I know,” Thune told Fox News Digital. “That’s a good question. Let me know if you get the answer.”