House Budget Committee chairman says Republicans will use reconciliation to fund DHS, defense and election incentives

Congressman Jody Arrington, chairman of the House Budget Committee, said on a television program that House Republicans will use the budget reconciliation process to secure funding for Department of Homeland Security operations, a defense supplemental and measures incentivizing state election changes.

Arrington said Republicans cannot rely on Democratic support in regular order and urged the party to use reconciliation to pass measures with a simple-majority Senate threshold. He described priorities as funding defense readiness, pursuing a "war on fraud" to recover improper payments and reducing mandatory spending over the long run.

The remarks came after the program's host read a Truth Social post by former President Donald Trump about Iran. The host also noted House leadership would not return early from recess to resolve a reported 53-day shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security.

"We're going to have to work together as Republicans to do that," Arrington said of securing supplemental defense funding and homeland-security outlays. He called defense investment "the most important job of the federal government" and argued that some current spending can be redirected toward readiness and munitions replenishment.

Arrington cited large figures while framing offsets as recoverable savings. He said watchdogs such as the Government Accountability Office have estimated improper payments "upwards of $500 billion a year," and he gave the low-income housing tax credit and the earned income tax credit as examples of programs with error rates he described as substantial. "The error rate, the improper payment rate, Maria, is 30 cents on the dollar," he said.

On how reconciliation might carry other priorities, Arrington said Republicans see two reconciliation opportunities: an initial package tied to Department of Homeland Security funding followed by a later, broader package. He listed defense, fraud reduction, affordability measures for health care and housing, and optionally incentive grants to states that enact voter-integrity measures as potential reconciliation elements, but he acknowledged the Senate parliamentarian and Senate procedures will shape what is permitted.

"We can do this," Arrington said, describing the approach as a mix of direct funding and incentive grants to encourage state adoption of voter ID and other election-integrity measures. He said the final form would not necessarily mirror the "Save America Act" exactly but could serve as a down payment toward its goals if structured as a budgetary measure.

Arrington also addressed the international situation on the program, saying recent reported strikes and threats by Iran increased the need to replenish munitions. "There's no doubt about it," he said when asked whether stockpiles need supplementing.

The interview did not include any formal votes or legislative actions; Arrington described priorities and strategy for House Republicans but did not announce specific enacted measures or vote counts. He repeatedly framed the cost estimates and program error rates as figures cited by watchdogs and as part of Republican policy proposals rather than as settled policy outcomes.

The program ended with a mutual statement of the desire for secure elections ahead of the midterms and a note that viewers would continue to follow the House Budget Committee's work.