Pennsylvania Republican warns colleagues against a budget bill that cuts benefits

U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-PA) warned his party that a budget resolution that passed the House Budget Committee Friday slashing government benefits will result in him voting no on the proposal.

“If a bill is put in front of me that guts the benefits my neighbors rely on, I will not vote for it,” Bresnahan said in a X post on Friday, hours after the bill passed in the Republican-controlled committee. “These benefits are promises that were made to the people of NEPA and where I come from, people keep their word.”

I ran for Congress under a promise of always doing what is best for the people of Northeastern Pennsylvania. If a bill is put in front of me that guts the benefits my neighbors rely on, I will not vote for it. Pennsylvania’s Eighth District chose me to advocate for them in…

— Congressman Rob Bresnahan Jr. (@RepBresnahan) February 14, 2025

The cuts represent the Republican Party’s plan to offset the cost of extending President Donald Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which heavily benefitted the richest people and corporations in the country. The new plan would reportedly give an additional $900 billion in tax breaks to the wealthy on top of the $3.6 trillion extension. Meanwhile, there would be $1 trillion in cuts to. Medicaid and food stamps.

House Republicans are planning ~$1 trillion in new tax cuts for corporations – that’s on top of fully extending the expiring individual & estate tax provisions from 2017 – paid for primarily through cuts for millions who rely on Medicaid for health coverage. pic.twitter.com/cEwFX7YtAs

— Samantha Jacoby (@jacsamoby) February 14, 2025

The plan passed on party lines through the Budget Committee after Republicans rejected 30 Democrat-written amendments, some of which would have shielded SNAP and Medicaid. The plan heads to the full chamber, where it is unclear if House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has enough support to pass the bill.

Bresnahan and other vulnerable GOP congressman have expressed hesitation to cutting benefits programs, which would result in higher costs for constituents. With a thin, three-seat majority in the House of Representatives, the GOP can only afford two congressmen to break from the party in a floor vote.

Bresnahan was sworn into his first term in Congress last month after flipping Pennsylvania’s 8^th Congressional District in November, a swing district that was previously held by Democrat Matt Cartwright for several cycles.