President Donald Trump visited Capitol Hill on Tuesday to try to convince divided and quarrelsome Republicans to rally behind the massive and costly budget bill that party leaders hope to pass by the end of the week. Trump reportedly urged both moderates and conservatives to ease off their demands and made clear that he’s growing tired of the holdouts who are threatening to derail the package, titled the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Trump called the meeting “just a pep talk,” but he reportedly also made eminently clear to House Republicans that he’s willing to use his bully pulpit against anyone blocking passage.
Some holdouts left the meeting insisting that they were still not sold. Hours later, as negotiations continued and the two factions of lawmakers expressing reservations seemed to soften their opposition, House Speaker Mike Johnson reportedly expressed confidence that the bill was on track to pass before Friday. “We’re still finalizing things, but it’s not going to be a heavy lift,” Johnson said.
Strong words on Medicaid: Trump reportedly delivered a blunt warning to conservatives pressing for deeper cuts to Medicaid. “Don’t f--- around with Medicaid,” Trump said, according to reports.
He later told reporters he only wants to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse in the program. In the GOP plan, that means removing undocumented immigrants from the rolls, introducing new work requirements and stiffening eligibility checks. The latest Congressional Budget Office estimates, released Tuesday, project that the Medicaid changes in the House Republican budget would leave 7.6 million people uninsured, while changes to the Affordable Care Act could leave a few million more without coverage (see more below).
Still stuck on SALT: The president also urged blue-state Republicans not to let their desire for a larger deduction for state and local taxes to upend the bill. Trump had pledged to expand the SALT deduction while campaigning last year, but on Tuesday he said the move would mainly benefit Democratic governors in New York, Illinois and California.
A group of Republicans from New York were not moved, publicly calling for further negotiations to deliver what they described as tax relief for their middle-class constituents. (The SALT deduction primarily benefits higher earners.) “Our states are donor states, consistently subsidizing so-called fiscally responsible red states,” they argued in a statement, referring to the net financial flows to and from the federal government from taxes and federal programs.
Negotiations on the SALT deduction reportedly continued throughout the day — and may have yielded some progress. Yet with the House Rules Committee set to start debate on the legislation at 1 a.m. this morning, Trump’s visit failed to immediately beat down any or all resistance to key elements of the plan from both moderates and conservatives. Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson can afford to lose just three votes if they are to muscle their plan through this week.
The bottom line: Republicans still have some work to do before they can rest assured that their bill will pass the House, as deficit hawks and the SALT Caucus continue talks with GOP leaders. The coming hours will be critical.