Economist Steve Moore defended “budget hawks” holding up the GOP’s spending bill on Fox Business Monday, saying concerns raised by Republican Texas Rep. Chip Roy are valid.
House Republicans advanced President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill” Sunday night after four conservative holdouts voted “present,” allowing the tax and spending package to clear committee as GOP leaders push to send it to the Senate this week. During an appearance on “Kudlow,” Moore weighed in on a few House Freedom Caucus Republicans who joined Democrats to block Trump’s tax and spending bill, saying the legislation contains clear flaws that demand immediate attention.
“I was kind of angry Friday when I heard that Chip Roy was [with] a bunch of the budget hawks, and I’m a budget hawk myself, as you are. We’re holding this bill up. And then I looked at the details of what Chip Roy and these others were talking about. And I said ‘These guys are dead right. There’s problems with this bill. They have to be fixed. And it’s not a hard fix,’” Moore told host Larry Kudlow.
One of the key sticking points, Moore said, involves the delayed rollout of work requirements for welfare recipients. He reminded viewers that work requirements proved successful in the 1990s.
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“Why are we waiting, what is it, four, five, six years before the work requirements come in? But, incidentally, we did work requirements in the 90s. Remember, when Newt Gingrich was speaker and Bill Clinton was president, and we reduced welfare case levels by 60%,?” Moore asked. “Those people went into the workforce. There are jobs out there for people to fill.”
Moore also criticized how he said the current Medicaid funding formula distorts state incentives.
“Why are we paying states 90% of the tab of Medicaid? That’s the way states like Illinois and California are basically balancing their budget, by putting more people on Medicaid,” Moore said. (RELATED: Steve Moore Highlights 3 ‘Very Good Signs’ In Trump Jobs Report)
Despite the setbacks, Moore said he’s confident in the GOP.
“I believe we are going to get a settlement here between the budget hawks and the Republican leadership. I think it will be a better bill. They might even add that 15% corporate tax rate, which is something else I’d love to see in this,” Moore said.
Republican Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy also said that Roy has a valid point about spending but urged House conservatives to stay focused on the GOP’s main objective. He warned that failing to extend the Trump tax cuts by Jan. 1 would trigger a massive tax hike that could tank the economy.
House Republicans proposed accelerating work requirements to Dec. 31, 2026, and ending IRA green energy subsidies by 2028. Republican South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman called the bill “a lot better than what it was” but said fiscal hawks still want deeper Medicaid reforms, including changes to how much the federal government contributes to state Medicaid programs through federal medical assistance percentage.
The reconciliation package combines bills from 11 House committees, each tasked with hitting savings and spending targets totaling $1.5 trillion over 10 years. Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington said the bill delivers the most savings of any reconciliation legislation since 1974, but fiscal hawks say the timeline delays real reform until after Trump’s potential second term ends in 2029.
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