Budget reconciliation bill to target 'fraud' in means-tested programs, chairman says [View all]

Source: Roll Call

Posted March 30, 2026 at 5:51am


House Budget Chairman Jodey C. Arrington offered details on what a budget reconciliation bill could look like Friday, outlining an agenda that includes targeting fraud in the earned income tax credit program and finding savings in other means-tested benefit programs.

Arrington, R-Texas, and Senate Budget Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., have stressed the need to provide additional funding for defense and immigration enforcement through the filibuster-proof reconciliation process, which Republicans used last year to pass their “big, beautiful” tax and spending package.

In an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on March 27, Arrington said extended funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement is needed to guard against “more shutdowns in the future with Democrats on the side of stopping deportations and putting our ICE agents at risk.” Democrats have pushed for new restrictions on ICE agents in the wake of two fatal shootings of U.S. citizens in Minneapolis earlier this year.

Some GOP lawmakers, including Graham, also are looking at reconciliation as a way to pass portions of a voter ID bill that President Donald Trump has made a top priority. That bill calls for requiring proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote, along with photo identification at the polls.

Read more: https://rollcall.com/2026/03/30/budget-reconciliation-bill-to-target-fraud-in-means-tested-programs-chairman-says/