(WASHINGTON) — House Republicans are plowing ahead with a vote on the Senate-approved GOP budget blueprint on Wednesday despite opposition from rank-and-file lawmakers.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., with the help of President Donald Trump, will need to work to persuade nearly a dozen GOP holdouts to advance the legislation.
GOP leaders don’t have the votes right now. The speaker can only afford to lose three defections if all members are voting and present, and several GOP hard-liners from the House Freedom Caucus are likely to vote against the bill due to what they have said are concerns about how the plan would reduce the deficit.
If Johnson can pull off passing the legislation through the House in the face of likely drama on the House floor, he will deliver Trump a major win.
Trump posted Wednesday morning on his social media platform Truth Social that “it is more important now, than ever, that we pass THE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL. The USA will Soar like never before!!!”
The House will hold a vote at 3:30 p.m. on a “rule,” a procedure to advance legislation, which includes the budget blueprint. This will be a key test vote for Republicans.
If the rule vote passes, the House will vote on final passage of the budget blueprint at 5:30 p.m., requiring a simple majority.
Trump met with Johnson and several GOP hard-liners who have said they have concerns about the bill Tuesday afternoon in the Oval Office, though Reps. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., and Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., two likely no votes, said they were not invited.
Trump posted afterward that it was “a very good meeting.”
“I let them know that, I AM FOR MAJOR SPENDING CUTS! WE ARE GOING TO DO REDUCTIONS, hopefully in excess of $1 Trillion Dollars, all of which will go into ‘The One, Big, Beautiful Bill,'” he posted Tuesday night. “I, along with House Members and Senators, will be pushing very hard to get these large scale Spending Cuts done, but we must get the Bill approved NOW.”
Johnson, too, said he believed the meeting went well and that the president convinced the Republican holdouts to support the bill.
“A great meeting. The President was very helpful and engaged,” he said. “We have a lot of members’ whose questions were answered. We are making great progress right now.”
Reps. Chip Roy, R-Texas, Eli Crane, R-Ariz., Lloyd Smucker, R-Penn., Eric Burlison, R-Mo., Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., Keith Self, R-Texas, and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., were unlikely to support the bill, though it is unclear if they were convinced by the president to change their positions.
However, Roy said Tuesday that he still had concerns with the budget blueprint and will likely vote against the bill, telling reporters that the resolution has “enough” GOP objections to tank it.
“I’m not here for aspirations,” he posted on X. “The Senate’s bill does not add up – it’s all tax cuts with no spending cuts which = deficits.”
Trump made a final pitch to House Republicans while speaking at the National Republican Congressional Committee’s black-tie dinner Tuesday night.
“Just in case there are a couple of Republicans out there, you just got to get there,” Trump said. “Close your eyes and get there. It’s a phenomenal bill. Stop grandstanding. Just stop grandstanding.”
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