GOP battles threaten to torpedo Trump package
by Mychael Schnell and Mike Lillis
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) addresses reporters at the Capitol on May 14, 2025.
With just days until Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) self-imposed Memorial Day deadline, House Republicans are warring over a host of critical issues that threaten to upend the GOP’s plan to pass its “big, beautiful bill.”
The battle lines pit conservative spending hawks — who want to mitigate the deficit impact of the package — against vulnerable moderates fighting to preserve federal health care benefits and secure a controversial tax break in high-income districts.
Republicans on the House Budget Committee advanced the legislation in a rare late-night Sunday vote. But the conservatives on the panel made clear that while they allowed the package to move forward, their ultimate support would be contingent on significant changes to provisions surrounding Medicaid and green energy tax credits. Moderate Republicans from high-tax states, meanwhile, are digging in on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction.
The talks have spanned months, but a resolution has proven elusive. And Johnson, while voicing public confidence that the package will pass through the House this week, is also acknowledging that the stubborn sticking points will require days, not hours, to unglue.
“None of that has been ultimately and finally decided because, as everyone knows around here, we have to build consensus around all those ideas,” he said.
Up Next - Speaker Johnson on budget reconciliation talks
“We’re almost there, and I’m very optimistic that we will find the right equilibrium point to get this bill delivered.”
The Speaker, however, appears ready to put his lobbying campaign into overdrive — with some assistance. President Trump is scheduled to attend the House GOP’s weekly conference meeting Tuesday, when he will have to convince some skeptical holdouts to back the sprawling package.
“Over the weekend, the president was in direct conversation and communication with the Speaker of the House. He’s been very involved. He always is,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday, before Trump’s planned visit had been announced. “He’s willing to pick up the phone when he is asked to. So he’ll continue to be very engaged in this process with both House members and his friends on the Senate side, as well.”
Top Republicans, though, have their work cut out for them.
The unfinished nature of the Trump agenda bill was on full display Monday morning, when House GOP leadership staff briefed reporters on the current state of play — the main takeaway of which was that “nothing is final until it’s final.”
Asked about the SALT deduction cap, Medicaid work requirements and repealing green energy incentives Democrats enacted in 2022, staffers demurred, underscoring that virtually every one of the hot-button issues have not been completely adjudicated.
Johnson said it will take another two days to iron out the wrinkles.
“We’re going to have a lot of discussion among the conference over the next 48 hours,” he said.
The Speaker did, to be sure, see some success late Sunday night, when the House Budget Committee advanced the bill following Friday’s failed vote. But the move only came after a quartet of spending hawks agreed to vote “present” to allow the legislation to move forward in the process — making a point not to vote “yes” as they push for more changes.
Some were visibly frustrated that the discussions over the weekend didn’t bear more fruit, making clear that their decision to allow the bill to move through the Budget panel was no indication that they’re ready to back it the next time it comes up for a vote.
“We made progress this weekend, but … we didn’t get nearly far enough,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) told reporters late Sunday night.
The group — including several members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus — are asking for an accelerated start date to the beefed-up Medicaid work requirements in the bill, in addition to an expedited rollback of several green energy tax credits that Democrats enacted in 2022.
The work requirements — which would require adults aged 19-64 without disabilities to prove they work, go to school or volunteer for 80 hours a month — are set to take effect in 2029. Hard-liners, however, want that date to be immediate or as soon as possible. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said Monday that Republicans are eyeing early 2027 as the start date.
Similarly, the group wants the repeal of green energy tax credits to be quicker — and more expansive.
“The bill does not yet meet the moment – leaving almost half of the green new scam subsidies continuing,” Roy wrote Sunday night on the social platform X. “More, it fails to end the Medicaid money laundering scam and perverse funding structure that provides seven times more federal dollars for each dollar of state spending for the able-bodied relative to the vulnerable.”
As of Monday afternoon, those issues remained unresolved.
“They have to work to get the votes,” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), a member of the Budget Committee, said Monday after meeting with some White House officials. “We’re working on it; trying to come up with something.”
On SALT, meanwhile, moderate Republicans from high-tax blue states are still waiting for Johnson to present them with a counteroffer for the deduction cap. Leadership initially put forward a $30,000 deduction cap for people making $400,000 or less, which the group deemed a nonstarter. The SALT Caucus said it wanted a $62,000 deduction cap for single filers and a $124,000 deduction cap for joint filers.
Those Republicans are showing no signs of relenting.
“I’m holding the line on SALT,” Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.), a vocal SALT proponent, wrote on X. “My party’s $30K cap proposal only makes 4 in 5 households whole. That’s not enough.”
GOP leaders are pressing ahead. Despite the absence of a deal, the Rules Committee has scheduled a markup of the still-evolving package for 1 a.m. EDT on Wednesday. The timeline drew immediate howls from Democrats, who accused Republicans of cloaking the changes to the bill under the dead of night. But Johnson dismissed the allegations, saying “minor modifications” delivered under what’s known as a manager’s amendment were always a part of the plan.
“We anticipated all through the process that we would come to this point,” he said.
Democrats have been largely sidelined throughout the debate, since they intend to oppose the package unanimously. But at the eleventh hour, they’ve stepped up their public attacks on the legislation in an effort to make the vote as uncomfortable as possible for vulnerable Republicans they’re hoping to pick off in the midterms.
“If this legislation is designed to make life better for the American people, can someone explain to me why they would hold a hearing to advance the bill at 1 a.m.?” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) asked Monday.
Emily Brooks contributed.
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