WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump will travel to Capitol Hill on Tuesday morning to attend House Republicans’ conference meeting to deliver an 11th-hour plea to finalize his massive budget resolution and advance his agenda.
Trump is expected to attend the weekly closed-door meeting at 8:30 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, House GOP leadership and White House sources confirmed to the Deseret News. His attendance comes as Republican leaders continue negotiations with GOP holdouts threatening to tank Trump’s massive budget framework that would advance his priorities on border, energy, national security and tax reform.
The House is expected to vote on the reconciliation bill as early as Thursday, but some sticking points remain among key factions of the House before GOP leaders can bring it to the floor.
Because of Republicans’ slim majority, they can only lose three lawmakers’ support assuming full attendance and all Democrats vote against the measure. As of Monday, at least a dozen Republicans have expressed dissatisfaction with the bill in its current form, prompting last-minute deals between House GOP leadership and hardline conservatives.
GOP leadership aides told reporters in a briefing on Monday morning that about 95% of the budget framework is agreed to among the conference. However, a handful of issues remain that must be hashed out before the House Rules Committee meets at 1 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, which will establish rules for debate and floor proceedings before it can be voted on by the full House.
But some Republicans are already digging in their heels to say they will not support the bill if it comes to the floor this week, telling reporters GOP leadership should take more time over the next few weeks to negotiate.
Congress is scheduled to adjourn for a weeklong recess for the Memorial Day holiday, the day GOP leaders initially set as their self-imposed deadline to get the reconciliation bill passed out of the House. But now, some lawmakers are suggesting they should use the recess period to further negotiate instead of pushing the bill through.
“I think it’s pretty obvious that they’re going to need more time,” House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., said on Monday.
When asked if Trump could convince him otherwise during the meeting on Tuesday, he replied: “I always welcome the president, but I’m not sure there’s anything he can say tomorrow that’s going to change the mind of people who do believe that this bill needs more work.”
What issues remain in the tax cut bill?
One of the most significant changes proposed in the framework is to implement new work requirements for Medicaid beneficiaries. The bill would require able-bodied adults without dependents to work at least 80 hours a month or complete some other activity such as community service.
However, those requirements wouldn’t kick in until 2029 — a stipulation that conservatives say must be moved up or else they won’t support the final package when it comes to the floor. Moving up the timeline has been at the center of discussions with holdouts, although it’s not clear what the details look like.
Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., told reporters on Sunday night that leadership agreed to move up that timeline, although details are not yet clear. Leadership aides say a final decision has not yet been made.
Norman and other conservatives have also pushed for earlier repeals of the Inflation Reduction Act, a signature clean-energy bill passed under the Biden administration. Some lawmakers are pushing for those tax credits to be repealed immediately, but those conversations are ongoing.
Another complicated measure still being hashed out is how much to expand federal deductions for state and local taxes paid, also known as SALT. While the issue does not affect a large number of constituents for most Republican lawmakers, there are several in blue-majority states who have made it a crucial issue — even going so far as to threaten final passage if a higher deductible is not included.
Republican leaders offered to increase the current deduction cap to $30,000 — up from the current $10,000 limit — and incorporate a new $400,000 income limit. Those parameters were advanced in the tax measure last week, but some New York Republicans have said they would vote against the package if those numbers don’t change.
That is another sticking point that remains under consideration, leadership aides said on Monday.