WASHINGTON — House Republicans are rushing back to Washington, D.C., to vote on President Donald Trump’s massive tax bill as GOP leaders grapple with one of their biggest obstacles yet: weather delays.
After a marathon voting session earlier this week to push the domestic policy bill through the Senate, top Republicans in the House are set to face their toughest legislative challenge so far to win over some of their most immovable members. But those efforts are being thwarted by unforeseen travel delays caused by severe thunderstorms in the nation’s capital, possibly threatening full attendance.
More than 200 flights were either canceled or delayed on Tuesday heading into Reagan National Airport, the hub airport most lawmakers fly into when traveling back to Washington. And it’s forced some members to get creative with their transportation methods.
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., rented a van Tuesday evening for a nearly 8-hour road trip to the Capitol. Meanwhile, Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., drove all the way to Chicago to catch a different flight to Washington.
Attendance concerns were on full display during the first procedural vote Wednesday morning as the count was left open for more than 90 minutes to get enough Republican members to arrive at the Capitol and cast their vote. Those procedural votes are typically only left open for 15 minutes.
By the time the gavel closed the vote, eight Republicans were still absent from the chamber.
Meanwhile, House GOP leaders are scrambling to meet with holdouts to sway their support as more than two dozen rank-and-file Republicans air concerns with the Senate version of the tax package.
Several members of the House Freedom Caucus have criticized the latest iteration for scaling back cuts to clean energy tax credits, claiming the Senate product does not go far enough to reduce the nation’s deficit. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., met with the conservative bloc Wednesday morning, although it didn’t appear to move the needle for some members.
“The speaker is going to have to decide if he’s going to bring this closer to the House framework,” Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris said on Wednesday. “Hopefully it goes back to rules, gets moved closer to the House position, and the Senate gets called back into town. Senate never should have left town. The president asked us to stay until this issue was resolved and the Senate left town.”
Harris’ comments highlight the complaints many HFC members are publicly raising: The Senate made too many changes to the originally agreed-upon budget framework, and now the upper chamber is jamming the House to meet the party’s self-imposed deadline of July 4.
Freedom Caucus members are expected to meet with the White House on Wednesday morning to talk through concerns. Other Republicans outside of the Freedom Caucus will also meet GOP leaders and White House officials throughout the day.
The House is tentatively scheduled to vote on the budget framework as early as Wednesday evening, although that could be pushed to Thursday for leaders to buy more time.