House Republican leadership is eager to pass the Senate’s version of President Trump’s budget resolution by the end of the week but faces headwinds from budget hawks in its own ranks ahead of the upcoming holiday recess.

Members of the GOP-led House returned to Capitol Hill on Monday to resume a legislative session that was derailed last week over a standoff on proxy voting – with the passage of Trump's budget resolution a top priority. However, several Republicans have objected to the Senate budget resolution, arguing that it doesn't cut enough spending.

House Speaker Mike Johnson and Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna came to an agreement on Sunday regarding proxy voting for new parents. Luna had argued that the Democratic-led resolution was needed for new parents while Johnson said it was unconstitutional. Trump endorsed Luna's push for proxy voting on Thursday.

"Speaker Johnson and I have reached an agreement and are formalizing a procedure called 'live/dead pairing'—dating back to the 1800s—for the entire conference to use when unable to physically be present to vote: new parents, bereaved, emergencies," Luna posted on X on Sunday about the agreement.

"Thanks to POTUS and his support of new moms being able to vote when recovering from child brith [sic] as well as those who worked hard to get these changes done. If we truly want a pro-family Congress, these are the changes that need to happen."

Johnson announced the deal on Sunday afternoon on a conference call with GOP lawmakers, during which he also advocated for legislators to support the Senate's budget resolution that passed early Saturday morning.

The budget resolution is critical to advancing Trump’s legislative agenda on the southern border, tax cuts, and energy policy, as it allows Republicans to avoid a Senate filibuster by Democrats.

A hard 'no'

Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, reportedly plans to vote on the Senate blueprint resolution as early as Wednesday. GOP leadership is looking to pass the budget resolution before breaking for Passover and Easter the next two weeks.

Whether Johnson will have enough votes for the resolution’s passage is unclear, considering he has only a seven-vote majority in the chamber and a few GOP House members have already said they oppose it.

House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, said over the weekend that he was concerned about the Senate’s budget resolution. “The Senate response was unserious and disappointing, creating $5.8 trillion in new costs and a mere $4 billion in enforceable cuts, less than one day’s worth of borrowing by the federal government,” Arrington said. “It also sets a dangerous precedent by direct scoring tax policy without including enforceable offsets.”

Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., remarked on the contrast between the House’s $1.5 trillion in proposed spending cuts and the Senate’s $4 billion in cuts. “This is offensive, and so I’m a hard no on this junk,” Ogles said about the Senate’s budget resolution. “Look, $1.5 trillion? That was a serious offer from the House of Representatives. A $3 to $4 billion cut is offensive to the American people. It’s a joke. It should not have been presented.”

“The budget instructions passed by the Senate are pathetic,” Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., posted on X on Saturday.

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, also voiced his opposition to the Senate budget resolution on Saturday. “If the Senate’s ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ budget is put on the House floor, I will vote no,” Roy posted on X.

“In the classic ways of Washington, the Senate’s budget presents a fantastic top-line message – that we should return spending back to the pre-COVID trajectory (modified for higher interest, Medicare, and Social Security) of $6.5 Trillion, rather than the current trajectory of over $7 Trillion – but has ZERO enforcement to achieve it, and plenty of signals it is designed purposefully NOT to achieve it,” he continued.

Conciliation a tall hurdle

“The House Budget is seemingly more modest in its objectives – perhaps OVERLY modest – in laying out a floor of $200B in reductions in spending increases (not cuts). But that ‘floor’ establishes important guardrails to force Congress to pump the brakes on runaway spending and to achieve critical reforms to badly broken Medicaid, food stamp, and welfare programs currently being abused to subsidize illegals, the able-bodied, and blue states,” Roy added.

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., told Fox News on Monday regarding the Senate budget resolution, "At this point, I would vote against it." "I mean, if the Senate actually is able to deliver on meaningful deficit reduction, we could just pass the Senate amendments to the House budget resolution," Harris added. "But again, I'm not willing to do that until I see what the deficit reduction, the actual deficit reduction that the Senate has in mind, is."

Vice Chairman of the House Budget Committee Lloyd Smucker, R-Pa., also said he will not vote for the Senate budget resolution.

“The Senate’s passage of the amended House resolution is a critical step forward. However, with $5.8 trillion in costs and only $4 billion required savings in their instructions, I cannot vote for it,” Smucker said in a statement on Saturday. “We can and must do better. Let’s come together next week to craft a fiscally responsible solution.”

If the House doesn’t pass the Senate budget resolution as is, then Republicans will have to decide whether to make changes and send it back to the upper chamber or have GOP leaders from both chambers come to an agreement in a conference meeting.