The House Budget Committee has scheduled a rare Sunday night session in an attempt to advance President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
May 18 The House Budget Committee has scheduled a rare Sunday night session in an attempt to advance President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
The panel of 21 Republicans and 16 Democrats plans to convene at 10 p.m. Committee passage of the bill is necessary to put it on the floor for a vote later this week and before Memorial Day. Congress needs to pass the budget bill by July, mainly because of a deadline in mid-July to address the debt limit and avoid a default.
The bill for fiscal year 2026, which begins Oct. 1, is 1,116 pages and roughly $7 trillion. The last time Congress passed all 12 regular appropriations bills on time, before the start of a new fiscal year, was in 1996. Since then, Congress has relied heavily on continuing resolutions and omnibus appropriations bills to fund the government.
In fiscal year 2024, the federal government spent $6.8 trillion.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Fox News Sunday that Republicans still are “on track” to pass the bill by the end of this week. Some Republican hardliners and moderates have opposed to the bill along with all Democrats.
“We’re on track, working around the clock to deliver this nation-shaping legislation for the American people as soon as possible”, Johnson said. “All 11 of our committees have wrapped up their work, and they spent less and saved more than even we’ve projected initially. This really is a once-in-a-generation opportunity that we have here.”
If the Budget Committee passes the bill, it goes before the Rules Committee. In the House, Republicans have a 220-213 majority with two vacancies after two Democrats died.
