Sweeping 'big beautiful bill' in trouble
‘Stop negotiating’ Trump tells House Rs on sweeping tax, budget, policy plan
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Trump bill in trouble in House
House GOP leadership’s plans to pass President Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill”—a sweeping legislative package targeting several pillars of his second-term agenda—are looking increasingly ominous, with multiple factions still withholding support despite the president’s best efforts to sway critics during a high-stakes meeting Tuesday morning.
Speaker Mike Johnson is set to continue talks with defectors, as both conservative and moderate blocs dig in. Right-wing lawmakers are pushing for deeper cuts and stricter Medicaid reforms, while moderates from high-tax states demand expansion of the state and local tax (SALT) deduction, a politically sensitive issue for suburban Republicans.
“We share President Trump’s call for unity within the House Republican Conference. A fair SALT deduction is a matter of fundamental fairness for the hardworking families we represent, including the many who proudly support President Trump and voted for him, in part, because he promised to restore SALT,” Reps. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.), Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.), Young Kim (R-Calif.), and Tom Kean Jr. (R-N.J.) said in a joint statement. “We hope his remarks today motivate the Speaker to advance a SALT proposal that delivers meaningful relief for our middle-class constituents, as we have worked in good faith with House Leadership for more than a year. Our states are donor states, consistently subsidizing so-called fiscally responsible red states.”
Trump met privately with House Republicans in a Capitol basement conference room for over an hour, attempting to rally the party behind what he has repeatedly called “one big, beautiful bill.” The 1,116-page proposal spans tax policy, energy infrastructure, and border security, and is seen as the centerpiece of Trump’s legislative ambitions early in his second term.
One lawmaker in the room told 24sight News, Trump delivered a blunt and occasionally profane message: stop negotiating and move forward. “His basic message is: stop negotiating—stop asking for more SALT and stop asking for more Medicaid cuts—and get it passed,” one Republican lawmaker said. “And put the pipeline permit stuff back in (first I’m hearing it was taken out!!).”
Trump reportedly used sharp language to make his case. One lawmaker recalled him saying, “Don’t fuck around with Medicaid,” while another said he ended the meeting with a dramatic warning: “Give me freedom, or give me death. And it’ll be death for all if we don’t pass this bill and Dems get the largest tax increase in U.S. history.”
The former president also singled out specific lawmakers during the closed-door session. He clashed with Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.)—a leading SALT advocate—saying, “I know your district better than you do. If you lose because of SALT, you were going to lose anyway.” He also attacked Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), a long-time skeptic, calling him a “grandstander” and urging colleagues to vote him out of office. Massie dismissed the comments afterward: “I’m not worried about that.”
Despite Trump’s push, the bill in its current form appears far from the finish line. House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) said, “The president, I don’t think, convinced enough people that the bill is adequate the way it is.” Harris noted that while Trump emphasized cutting “waste, fraud, and abuse” in Medicaid, “we have not eliminated waste, fraud, and abuse” in the current version.
Another Republican lawmaker was more blunt: “Hard to say how many no’s. It has no chance of passing.”
Still, some Trump allies say the bill should go to the floor even if it initially fails.
“It’s time for people to stop fighting for their own little mini-kingdoms that they’ve created, and it’s time to get together and get it done,” said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). “It should happen by this weekend. And you know what? Put it to the floor for a vote and let them be exposed and let them hear from their constituents.”
The legislative fight comes amid a turbulent stretch in Trump’s second term. He recently withdrew his pick of Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) for U.N. ambassador due to internal vote-counting concerns, and his longtime legal spokeswoman—now a New Jersey prosecutor—has announced plans to pursue charges against a sitting Democratic congresswoman.
No Democrats are expected to support the bill, and Republicans are relying on budget reconciliation to bypass a Senate filibuster.
For now, House leaders are keeping the door open to changes, but the path forward remains uncertain. As Harris (R-Md.) put it: “We’re still a long ways away, but we can get there—maybe not by tomorrow, but we can get there.”
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JGB is da besssssst!!!!
Good report. Thanks.