Reconciliation Markups Signify the Beginning of the Hard Part — And the Start of Democratic Attacks

Republicans shrugged off Democrats’ rhetoric in three key committees as “beta testing” for the midterms, but House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries told NOTUS he was confident voters would sour on the GOP.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Brett Guthrie
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Brett Guthrie is seen with other committee members during a markup on Capitol Hill. Francis Chung/POLITICO/AP

For months, the debate over reconciliation has been conceptual. Now, with Republicans marking up hundreds of pages of legislative text, the fight is here and very real.

Three key committees began their marathon markups Tuesday night, debating some of the most contentious elements of the reconciliation package, like Medicaid cuts, tax cuts and reductions to food-benefit programs.

And as Republicans finally begin the process of turning their rough ideas into measurable proposals, it was already clear that leaders have a long way to go if they’re going to pass their reconciliation legislation out of the House by Memorial Day, as Speaker Mike Johnson has suggested.