Republican budget at risk in the House

Republican lawmakers on Thursday were unsure of whether they would be able to find the votes to pass their 2018 budget plan anytime soon, even though the plan was easily approved in the House Budget Committee a day earlier.

The GOP needs a budget to pass tax reform this year, since the budget will set up privileged legislation on tax reform that couldn't be filibustered by Democrats in the Senate.

Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy did not schedule the fiscal year 2018 budget resolution "Building a Better America, for a vote next week, which is the final legislative session before a scheduled five-week recess.

McCarthy told the Washington Examiner GOP leaders are going to determine the level of Republican support for the measure, which is to serve as the legislative vehicle for tax reform, a top Republican agenda goal. Conservatives and moderates are at loggerheads over the size of domestic spending cuts, and lawmakers are also clamoring for information about the undisclosed tax plan that is to serve as the centerpiece of the legislation.

"We are working through it," McCarthy told the Washington Examiner.