The House will hold a test vote Wednesday afternoon on a Senate-altered budget blueprint for enacting President Trump’s agenda, and if it succeeds, a final vote soon after.
House Republicans cannot afford to lose more than three votes from their party on either vote, given the united Democratic opposition. But there have been more Republicans than that saying they plan to vote “no.”
Mr. Trump has helped GOP leaders lay on the pressure, including in two back-to-back social media posts Wednesday morning.
“Republicans, it is more important now, than ever, that we pass THE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL. The USA will Soar like never before!!!” he said in the first post.
The president’s second post similarly read, “It is IMPERATIVE that Republicans in the House pass the Tax Cut Bill, NOW! Our Country Will Boom!!!”
Notably, the president did not refer directly to the budget blueprint, as he has in past posts, but the massive tax and spending bill that the budget provides instructions for committees to draft.
Mr. Trump’s message of urgency was still designed to get Republicans on board with the budget, which is needed to unlock the filibuster-proof reconciliation process that will allow Republicans to pass his agenda without needing Democratic votes.
Several House Republicans are upset about Senate changes to the budget that lower the bar for spending cuts in the reconciliation package. The Senate set a collective $4 billion floor for spending cuts in instructions to its committees, compared to a $1.5 trillion spending cut floor provided to House committees.
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, Maryland Republican, several members of his hard-line GOP group and a few fiscal hawks not in the Freedom Caucus have said they will vote against the budget.
They’d prefer to either go to conference with the Senate to resolve the spending cut dispute or wait to approve the budget until after the upper chamber shows House members the spending cuts it will support in the final bill.
There is no official deadline for adopting the budget other than before Republicans bring the reconciliation package to the floor.
However, the budget resolution does contain May deadlines for House and Senate committees to report their pieces of the reconciliation bill.
GOP leaders want to adopt a unified budget now so the party can focus solely on preparing the final bill and meeting the committee deadlines to get the entire bill passed by Memorial Day.
Mr. Trump also wants to move on and is clearly frustrated that Republicans are getting hung up on the first procedural step when all he cares about is the final product.
“Close your eyes and get there,” Mr. Trump told the holdouts during a speech at a House GOP fundraiser Tuesday night. “It’s a phenomenal bill. Stop grandstanding. Just stop grandstanding.”
The president made the plea after he met with a group of budget holdouts at the White House on Tuesday afternoon and convinced a few to change their minds.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, who also attended the meeting, expressed confidence that Mr. Trump’s input will help them win the vote.
“I’m really grateful that we have a president that is so engaged, that will take the time and meet with members in groups and individually, as he does,” Mr. Johnson said. “He’s a big part of this, and it’s going to be a success.”
