Trump presses House GOP as tax-and-cut bill stalls over internal disputes
Shreedhar Rathi | Apr 09, 2025, 00:03 IST
( Image credit : AP )
President Trump convened House Republicans to salvage his tax cut and spending reduction bill, facing resistance from conservatives who deem Senate-approved budget cuts insufficient. Speaker Johnson is scrambling to keep negotiations alive before the recess, as internal GOP gridlock threatens to derail Trump's legislative priority. The bill's fate hangs in the balance amid economic jitters and market uncertainty.
President Donald Trump convened House Republicans at the White House on Tuesday in a bid to salvage his high-stakes domestic policy package, a sweeping bill of tax cuts and federal spending reductions currently teetering on the edge of collapse amid GOP infighting.
The “big, beautiful bill,” as Trump calls it, is facing resistance from conservative House Republicans who are rejecting a newly approved Senate GOP budget framework for not slashing spending deeply enough. With the House scheduled to leave town Thursday for a two-week recess and economic jitters mounting over Trump’s aggressive tariffs and mass federal layoffs, Speaker Mike Johnson is scrambling to keep negotiations alive.
“We’ve got to get this done,” Johnson said after an intense closed-door session with GOP lawmakers Tuesday morning.
At the heart of the standoff is the GOP’s effort to make permanent $4.5 trillion in tax cuts first passed under Trump in 2017. While Senate Republicans greenlit a compromise over the weekend, calling for $4 billion in immediate spending cuts, House conservatives are demanding closer to $2 trillion over the next decade to offset the tax reductions.
The internal gridlock is threatening to derail one of Trump’s top legislative priorities, with Democrats uniformly opposed to a package they say is a giveaway to the wealthy at the expense of social programs like Medicaid and food stamps.
“I’m tired of the fake math in the swamp,” said Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a member of the hardline House Freedom Caucus. “The Senate has produced a budget that is phony math, and I’m not going to support it.”
Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) echoed the frustration: “It doesn’t take a calculus wiz to know that doesn’t add up.”
Despite Trump’s urging—he took to social media Monday night to demand quick passage and promised, “Everyone is going to be happy with the result”—House conservatives remain unconvinced the Senate will follow through with any meaningful cuts.
“The trustworthiness of the Senate is suspect,” said Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.). “It’s like you charge $100,000 for your house, and I come back with $1,000. How do you bridge that gulf?”
The Senate’s weekend vote signaled similar misgivings among some Republicans. Though no amendments were adopted, several GOP senators joined Democrats in backing symbolic measures to protect Medicaid from proposed cuts—including $800 billion in reductions advanced in the House plan.
Still, some in the House are pushing to adopt the Senate framework as a starting point, with the promise of continued negotiations over the final package. But conservatives are holding the line, creating uncertainty over whether a scheduled Wednesday vote can move forward—or if it will be delayed indefinitely.
The bill’s fate now hangs in the balance, with financial markets on edge and Trump’s economic agenda increasingly tied to its passage. Whether the fractured GOP can coalesce before the recess may prove critical not just to Trump’s legislative legacy, but to the broader economic outlook heading into the summer.
The “big, beautiful bill,” as Trump calls it, is facing resistance from conservative House Republicans who are rejecting a newly approved Senate GOP budget framework for not slashing spending deeply enough. With the House scheduled to leave town Thursday for a two-week recess and economic jitters mounting over Trump’s aggressive tariffs and mass federal layoffs, Speaker Mike Johnson is scrambling to keep negotiations alive.
“We’ve got to get this done,” Johnson said after an intense closed-door session with GOP lawmakers Tuesday morning.
At the heart of the standoff is the GOP’s effort to make permanent $4.5 trillion in tax cuts first passed under Trump in 2017. While Senate Republicans greenlit a compromise over the weekend, calling for $4 billion in immediate spending cuts, House conservatives are demanding closer to $2 trillion over the next decade to offset the tax reductions.
The internal gridlock is threatening to derail one of Trump’s top legislative priorities, with Democrats uniformly opposed to a package they say is a giveaway to the wealthy at the expense of social programs like Medicaid and food stamps.
“I’m tired of the fake math in the swamp,” said Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a member of the hardline House Freedom Caucus. “The Senate has produced a budget that is phony math, and I’m not going to support it.”
Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) echoed the frustration: “It doesn’t take a calculus wiz to know that doesn’t add up.”
Despite Trump’s urging—he took to social media Monday night to demand quick passage and promised, “Everyone is going to be happy with the result”—House conservatives remain unconvinced the Senate will follow through with any meaningful cuts.
“The trustworthiness of the Senate is suspect,” said Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.). “It’s like you charge $100,000 for your house, and I come back with $1,000. How do you bridge that gulf?”
The Senate’s weekend vote signaled similar misgivings among some Republicans. Though no amendments were adopted, several GOP senators joined Democrats in backing symbolic measures to protect Medicaid from proposed cuts—including $800 billion in reductions advanced in the House plan.
Still, some in the House are pushing to adopt the Senate framework as a starting point, with the promise of continued negotiations over the final package. But conservatives are holding the line, creating uncertainty over whether a scheduled Wednesday vote can move forward—or if it will be delayed indefinitely.
The bill’s fate now hangs in the balance, with financial markets on edge and Trump’s economic agenda increasingly tied to its passage. Whether the fractured GOP can coalesce before the recess may prove critical not just to Trump’s legislative legacy, but to the broader economic outlook heading into the summer.