Trump’s ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill’ Clears Hurdle In Second Attempt Of Key Vote

In a second attempt late Sunday night, President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill” prevailed in a critical committee vote after House GOP leadership managed to placate a handful of Republican deficit hawks who held out in the first go-around.

The House Budget Committee advanced the package in a 17-16 vote along party lines while four conservative defectors from last time voted “present.”

It appears negotiations over the past couple of days were productive.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told reporters shortly before the Sunday vote that talks had been “great” and “minor modifications” were made over the weekend. The exact details were not immediately known.

Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-TX) asserted during the meeting late Sunday that he could not say what might be changing, emphasizing that the situation was fluid.

One of the erstwhile holdouts, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), suggested the breakthrough had to do with moving Medicaid work requirements forward and reducing “green new scam” subsidies.

However, Roy also said he had lingering objections linked to the same programs, warning the spending “ultimately increases the likelihood of continuing deficits and non-Obamacare-expansion states like Texas expanding in the future.”

The bill is processing through Congress via the reconciliation process, aiming to provide funding for Trump’s domestic priorities, retain the 2017 tax cuts, raise the debt limit, and more.

Negotiations are poised to stretch into this week.

Republicans will have to consider that certain alterations in the final project to placate conservatives might alienate some of their colleagues.

Another component of the massive policy bill — the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap — also threatens to divide the party. The $30,000 limit that passed has GOP members from high-tax blue states fighting for a higher ceiling.

While Republican grapple with their slim majority, Democrats are focused on pushing back on Trump’s agenda. They have warned the bill could lead millions to lose health care while benefiting the rich.

Johnson said during a “Fox News Sunday” interview that the next step in “the plan,” after a successful House Budget Committee vote, is to move the bill to the Rules Committee by midweek followed by a House floor by the end of the week.

Doing that, the speaker told Fox News anchor Shannon Bream, would allow House lawmakers to “meet our initial, our original Memorial Day deadline.”