GOP Holdouts Resist Trump Urge To Back ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ | EUROtoday

WASHINGTON — House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) mentioned he’s nonetheless a “no” on a sweeping bundle of tax and spending cuts even after President Donald Trump personally urged Republicans to again the invoice.

Speaking after a celebration assembly with Trump within the Capitol basement, Harris advised reporters he nonetheless desires steeper Medicaid cuts.

“We have to eliminate the waste, fraud, abuse of Medicaid and we’re far from that,” Harris mentioned.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, because it’s known as, would lower Medicaid by greater than $700 billion over a decade, however the textual content omits steeper cuts that Harris and different hard-liners have sought.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) desires to push the invoice via the House this week, however he’s being squeezed by Freedom Caucus members upset about inadequate Medicaid cuts on one facet and, on the opposite, by average Republicans from left-leaning states demanding an even bigger tax deduction for rich owners.

The president urged House Republicans to give up fussing with the Medicaid provisions and the deduction for state and native taxes, referred to as SALT, however some lawmakers appeared unwilling to go alongside as of Tuesday morning.

At one level, members mentioned, the president advised them, “Don’t fuck with Medicaid” — which means don’t add extra cuts past what’s already within the textual content. He additionally advised the SALT hard-liners to cease demanding an even bigger deduction than the rise already included within the laws.

“He said, ‘Leave it alone,’” Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) mentioned.

But Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) mentioned he took a special message from the president, particularly that management ought to give these demanding bigger SALT deductions what they need.

“I hope the president’s presence here today motivates everybody, especially my leadership, to give the SALT caucus a number to which we can actually say, ‘Yes,’” LaLota advised reporters.

Trump himself seemingly alluded to SALT in remarks with reporters, saying, “We don’t want to benefit Democrat governors.” Republicans have complained the federal deduction encourages states to impose larger taxes since wealthier households can simply write them off.

It’s onerous to inform, nevertheless, how lots of the Republican holdouts will truly maintain out underneath strain from the president when it comes time to vote.

Rep. Thomas Massie (Ky.) is perhaps the one Republican who has mentioned he would vote towards the invoice who will truly do it, as he has on earlier procedural votes when different hard-liners caved. He mentioned Tuesday he’s nonetheless towards the invoice however he believes the lawmakers against the invoice will discover methods to come back round.

“Some of them want to run for governor, and they need his endorsement, and some of them are freshmen who are here because of his endorsement, and probably haven’t established themselves to get reelected without his endorsement. Some of them had never even voted against a post office naming. How are they going to vote against this bill?” Massie mentioned. “I think he probably closed the deal in there.”

Harris, for his half, mentioned the invoice is way from the place it must be to win his assist.

“But we can get there,” Harris mentioned. “Maybe not by tomorrow, but we can get there.”