April 30, 2025: Reconciliation markups: what’s happened & what comes next

 

Good morning, all, 

House committees have begun marking up—that is, publicly debating and voting on—their portions of the GOP mega-bill that contains much of President Trump’s legislative agenda. As a result, Republicans have unveiled the policies they’ll use to achieve promised savings and spending targets. We’ll break down some of the most significant policies below, as well as what to watch next. 

If you need a refresher on the GOP’s priorities, check out our past updates. For an overview on the reconciliation process Republicans are using to fast-track those priorities, see The Basics of Budget Reconciliation. Finally, for a quick overview of committee markups and their significance, check out our last update. 

Where are we in the reconciliation process overall? 

The graphic below illustrates where we are in terms of reconciliation’s overall timeline. However, there are two important things to note: 

  • The step we're on right now—Step 3—might take several weeks. As I’ll discuss in the section below, some committees have yet to even schedule markups, and those are the markups that might be more contentious because they’ll cover issues like Medicaid cuts. 

  • All steps below are not created equal. As a reminder, the House and Senate still have a bunch of differences to settle before this mega-bill can become law—meaning, Step 5 might take awhile. For a refresher on those outstanding House/Senate disagreements, see our April 10 update. 

 
 

What do we know about the reconciliation package so far?

The table below shows each committee's markup date (if scheduled), their proposed spending cuts or increases, and examples of policies they've chosen to achieve those goals. This list is not exhaustive.

 
 

Sources: Armed Services Committee Print - Providing for reconciliation pursuant to H. Con. Res. 14, the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2025; Financial Services Committee Print - Providing for reconciliation pursuant to H.Con.Res. 14, the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2025; Homeland Security Committee Print - Providing for reconciliation pursuant to H. Con. Res. 14, the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2025); Judiciary Committee Print - Providing for reconciliation pursuant to H. Con. Res. 14, the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2025; Oversight and Government Reform - Providing for reconciliation pursuant to H. Con. Res. 14, the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2025; Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Print - Providing for reconciliation pursuant to H. Con. Res. 14, the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2025.

What effects would these proposals have on the public?

Several GOP proposals would raise costs for families. 

For example, the House Financial Services Committee has proposed cutting funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)—a watchdog agency that's returned $20 billion to defrauded Americans and investigated consumer complaints against companies like Tesla. Without adequate resources, CFPB cannot recoup Americans’ costs when companies rip them off. 

Similarly, the Education and Workforce Committee’s proposal would hike borrowers’ student loan payments. For instance, under this bill, the average borrower with a college degree would pay an additional $2,928 per year. 

On top of that, the Oversight and Government Reform Committee wants to make federal workers pay higher premiums for diminished retirement benefits. 

House Republicans’ spending proposals would funnel money to the Pentagon and attacks on immigrants—including immigrant children—rather than support for working families. 

Notably, despite DOGE and Elon Musk’s promises of greater efficiency at the Pentagon, the House Armed Services Committee has proposed spending billions on projects that defense analysts say would do little to improve Americans’ safety. For example, the Committee allocates $27 billion for the so-called "Golden Dome" missile defense system, which would likely fail to protect the U.S. from the kinds of missiles adversaries would most likely deploy in an attack on the United States, should one occur. The Golden Dome may also serve as a cash cow for Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX, which is reportedly a leading contender to build the project. 

What’s happened in the markups so far?

Three markups have concluded as of this morning (April 30): Armed Services, Education and Workforce, and Homeland Security. All three committees approved their portions of the reconciliation packages, mostly by party-line votes (five Democrats ultimately supported the Armed Services measure). 

Democrats on all three committees offered several amendments that the GOP majority voted down—remember, Republicans have more seats on committees than Democrats, making it impossible for Democratic proposals to succeed in the face of unified GOP opposition. 

Below are some notable Democratic amendments that the GOP blocked. Again, this list is not exhaustive. 

In Armed Services, Democratic members offered amendments to:

  • Withhold $50 billion from the bill’s Pentagon funding pot until it passes an audit. The Pentagon recently failed its seventh audit in a row.

  • Prohibit funds in this bill from being used for a military parade that’s reportedly been discussed for the President’s birthday. The parade is expected to cost $92 million.

In Education and Workforce, Democratic members offered amendments to:

  • Block cuts to Pell Grants, the biggest college financial aid program for working families. Should this bill go into effect, students with just one class left to graduate or who cannot afford to take more than one class a semester would lose eligibility for this assistance. 

  • Prohibit cuts to school meals. 

In Homeland Security, Democratic members offered amendments to: 

  • Block the deportation of American citizens, including American children. 

  • Prevent the detention and deportation of people for exercising their First Amendment right to free speech. 

What comes next?

The yet-to-be-scheduled markups will reveal more details about some of the GOP’s biggest priorities. In terms of what to look for from each committee: 

  • Anticipated cuts to Medicaid will come from the Energy and Commerce Committee; 

  • Expected cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will come from the Agriculture Committee; and

  • Tax breaks for corporations and billionaires will come from the Ways and Means Committee. 

We’ll keep you posted on noteworthy moments from this week’s markups and share information on markups to come as it emerges.

 
Cat Rowland