Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2025
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by Alan Jamison
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2 Comments
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In a key vote over the weekend, the House Budget Committee voted to approve Republicans’ budget reconciliation package, which President Donald Trump has termed the “Big, Beautiful Bill” that contains most of his domestic spending priorities. Ahead of a critical vote on the House floor this week, Trump is heading to the Capitol to meet with lawmakers and personally lobby for the measure’s passage through the chamber.
The bill survived the Budget Committee on a 17-16 vote, with four Republicans voting “present.” The major hurdle for House Speaker Mike Johnson has been creating a compromise between conservative Republicans who want greater spending cuts and moderate Republicans who are wary about any changes to government services and welfare programs under the bill.
The conservative House Freedom Caucus said in a statement following the Budget Committee vote that the bill still “does not yet meet the moment.” Given the GOP’s two-seat majority in the House, even a few Republican members have the power to derail the entire legislation – something the four Republicans who voted “present” made abundantly clear.
Proposed suggestions to cut spending through the bill include accelerating the introduction of expanded Medicaid work requirements to December 31, 2026, and phasing out the Biden Inflation Reduction Act’s “green energy” tax credits more quickly.
Meanwhile, blue-state Republicans are insistent on raising SALT deduction caps by significantly more than the hardline conservative House Freedom Caucus (HFC) has said it is willing to support. While House leadership has proposed a compromise where the deduction would rise from $10,000 to $30,000, Republicans from high-tax states like New York and California have demanded the limit be raised to $100,000 for single filers and $200,000 for married couples.
Another sticking point is the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) formula, which determines the federal government’s share of the cost of Medicaid services in each state. The HFC and other more conservative members want a change in the formula that would force states to cover more of the cost of Medicaid expansion, while more moderate Republicans have remained cool on the idea.
With the floor vote scheduled for Wednesday, President Trump is heading to the Capitol on Tuesday to meet with lawmakers and attempt to smooth over concerns about the bill. “The MAGA policies in this bill, like the largest tax cuts in history, massive border security funding, and $1.6 trillion in fiscal savings, are why Republicans currently have the majority in Congress right now,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on X.
GOP leadership has maintained that it wants to have the legislation on Trump’s desk by July 4. Johnson has warned that he is willing to keep lawmakers in Washington over Memorial Day weekend if they cannot pass the bill on Wednesday.
However, even if the House does pass the bill, there are still some potential pitfalls ahead. The Senate is likely to make its own changes to the legislation, which could upset compromises reached in the House. That amended legislation would then have to pass the House again, threatening to set off a new standoff between conservative and moderate Republicans.
Nonetheless, Republicans do have the advantage of President Trump as a unifying figure within the party. Trump won a sweeping mandate from voters last November and has repeatedly flexed his influence over Congress early in his second term.
The White House on Tuesday morning released a list of “20 reasons why Congress must unite behind the one Big, Beautiful Bill” that is sure to garner plenty of attention on Capitol Hill. That document captures the essence of Trump’s primary pitch on the bill. While it doesn’t please everyone, it delivers an extension and expansion of Trump’s signature 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and eliminates taxes on tips and overtime, two key Trump campaign promises.
The bill also provides critical funding for Trump’s border security and deportation agenda, which Republicans urgently need to move on in order to break the obstruction created by liberal lawsuits and judges, along with providing funding to finish the border wall, hire new Border Patrol and ICE agents, and kick illegal aliens off Medicaid.
While there are still challenges ahead, the House vote on Wednesday is the first major hurdle for Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill to clear. Americans will be eagerly watching to see if congressional Republicans can fulfill the task that voters sent them to Washington to accomplish.
Alan Jamison is the pen name of a political writer with extensive experience writing for several notable politicians and news outlets.
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