President Donald Trump showed up on Capitol Hill on Tuesday to try and convince warring factions in the Republican Party to get onboard with his “one big, beautiful bill.”
The president was speaking with House Republicans at their morning conference meeting, but it remains to be seen whether he has the clout to get members in line.
“I think we’re a very unified party,” Trump claimed while standing beside House Speaker Mike Johnson. “It’s the biggest bill ever passed, and we’re going to get it done.”
However, the president acknowledged while entering the U.S. Capitol that there were a few grandstanders. He warned the alternative to passing their bill would be a tax hike. Provisions of his 2017 tax law are set to expire if not extended in the legislation.
“We only have one or two, but we have tremendous support,” he argued.
Johnson wanted a full vote on the bill in the House by Memorial Day, but it’s become messy. The House is scheduled to go on recess for the holiday on Thursday.
Hard-line conservatives are trying to extract changes to the bill and have taken issue with it raising the deficit.
Among the revisions being pushed by Reps. Chip Roy and Ralph Norman are accelerating the Medicaid work requirements and changing the formula used to pay for it. They also want a rollback of the Inflation Reduction Act passed under President Biden.
Millions of people would become uninsured with Medicaid reforms, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. But Trump insisted, contrary to analysis, that they were only going to cut waste, fraud, and abuse.
In the closed-door meeting, the president told House members directly, “Don’t f*** around” with Medicaid, according to those inside.
More centrist Republicans have pushed back on Medicaid changes. Some are also demanding an increase in the state and local tax (SALT) deduction.
Trump tried to claim that only Democratic governors wanted the SALT limit increased, but it has been a sticking point for Republicans in states like New York. The president indicated they would be talking about it.
This story will be updated.
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