House Republicans have been frozen on the floor for hours as Speaker Mike Johnson’s leadership team works with President Donald Trump to try to put together a coalition to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill.
Johnson brought the chamber back today to vote on the $3.4 trillion tax-and-spend package. But the GOP leadership was short of the votes it needed to pass the rule for debate, a necessary prerequisite to get the reconciliation bill on the floor.
Top House Republicans sent GOP lawmakers back to their offices while they try to solve their concerns on this end and as Trump works the phones from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
The delay doesn’t mean Trump and Johnson won’t round up the 217 votes they need to pass the massive reconciliation package. It just means they’re not there yet, and the high-pressure whip operation needs to keep grinding on. OMB Director Russ Vought came to the Capitol on Wednesday to lobby members directly.
Trump hosted a number of House Republicans at the White House earlier today, including Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas), Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.), Mike Flood (R-Neb.), Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), David Valadao (R-Calif.), Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Rob Bresnahan (R-Pa.) and Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.).
Trump has a way of melting away Republican opposition. He promises executive actions outside the bill and convinces GOP lawmakers that they are making a wise political decision by siding with him.
Even Valadao, who came out against the bill, went to the White House today to meet with Trump. Valadao lost his seat in 2018 after voting for the first Trump tax cut bill, only to come back to Congress in 2021. Valadao also voted to impeach Trump.
Here’s the problem: A lot of Republicans have a lot of different gripes with the bill.
Members of the House Freedom Caucus and a handful of other fiscal hawks are upset that the Senate-passed legislation doesn’t include $2 trillion in spending reductions to pair with $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, as called for in the House’s budget resolution.
“Look, there’s a lot of stuff we still have to go over,” Norman said. “Our meeting opened a lot of questions that we want to make sure of that’s right.”
Norman initially said he’d vote against the rule and the bill, and he did oppose the rule for the OBBB in the Rules Committee late Tuesday night. But Norman now said he doesn’t know how he’ll vote. This is a good sign for the leadership and Trump.
Other House Republican lawmakers — including many from North Carolina — say that they are concerned about the Senate’s steeper Medicaid cuts, including the crackdown on provider taxes and state-directed payments.
“I’ve practiced in a rural part of eastern North Carolina for 30 plus years, I was chief of staff of a $2 billion medical center, and I am concerned about what all this means for eastern North Carolina,” said Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.), a physician in his fourth term.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) ripped the bill apart before voting no, saying it betrayed GOP promises not to cut Medicaid benefits. Tillis even made fliers showing the Senate bill’s cuts would put Medicaid coverage at risk for 600,000 North Carolinians. That makes it much harder for other members of the delegation to ignore concerns back home.
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein sent a letter to his congressional delegation, warning that 520,000 North Carolinians would lose health care if the bill is passed.
The speaker desperately wants to get this bill passed before July 4, a deadline he set long ago. But the 2017 Trump tax cuts do not expire until December. And some lawmakers want to take more time to see if they can convince the Senate to change several elements of the bill.
“It doesn’t matter when, but we’re going to get it done,” Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) said.
Remember – House Republicans passed the reconciliation package back on May 22 by a 215-214 margin, with one abstention. Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) voted no, while Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) abstained.
