By Arizona Agenda
Arizona’s congressional deficit hawks mostly caved when confronted with the political realities of the razor-thin Republican majority in the U.S. House and the need to adopt a budget.
The threatened rebellion of Republican Congressmen Eli Crane, Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs died down in a final flurry of negotiations on the “big beautiful” budget bill that Speaker Mike Johnson pushed through the House with the backing of President Donald Trump.
Biggs, Crane and Gosar all voted for the package, even though it will massively increase the U.S. debt.
Republican U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani also supported the measure, even after pledging to protect Medicaid funding, which the proposal slashes. So did Rep. Abraham Hamadeh. Republican Rep. David Schweikert slept through the late-night vote — but said he would have supported the bill had he been awake.
Arizona’s two Democratic members of Congress voted against it.
Now, the budget package heads to a skeptical U.S. Senate with a similarly razor-thin Republican majority. Senators return from their recess today.
If the budget becomes law, it will deal a serious blow to rural Arizona.
