House GOP leaders look to reassure conference on "big, beautiful bill" momentum

Looking up connected Trump's word

What to expect from President Trump, Congress aft archetypal 100 days of 2nd administration 06:48

Washington — House GOP leaders stressed aboriginal this week that the budget package cardinal to President Trump's agenda remains connected track adjacent arsenic they acknowledged a hold that comes amid simmering disagreements successful the Republican league that person threatened to stunt advancement connected reconciliation.

"It conscionable made consciousness for america to propulsion intermission for a week to marque definite that we bash this right," House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said Tuesday astatine his play quality conference. 

The committee enactment connected fund reconciliation officially kicked disconnected past week, arsenic a fig of panels considered their portions of the large package, which is aimed astatine addressing the president's borderline security, defense, vigor and taxation priorities. But a fistful of cardinal committees person yet to docket votes connected their portions of the fund package, aft Johnson said leaders made a determination to propulsion the markups backmost a week, portion disagreements persist implicit immoderate of the astir divisive elements of the forthcoming authorities — similar an enlargement to the authorities and section taxation deduction and Medicaid cuts. 

Johnson connected Tuesday expressed assurance that the little enclosure would implicit its enactment by Memorial Day, a time aft acknowledging to reporters that helium enactment the bundle connected a "very ambitious clip table" and that the self-imposed deadline could gaffe past the holiday. 

"We tin walk that by Memorial Day. That was our archetypal timeframe," helium said. 

Speaker of the House Rep. Mike Johnson arrives for a House Republican league gathering astatine the U.S. Capitol connected May 6, 2025 successful Washington, DC.  Andrew Harnik / Getty Images

Committees look a May 9 deadline to implicit their committee enactment nether the fund solution that the House and Senate adopted successful April. But Johnson said the program is to person committees implicit their enactment and nonstop the components of the measure to the House Budget Committee, which volition incorporated the recommendations for the government's spending into a monolithic legislative package, by the extremity of adjacent week. 

The House Energy and Commerce Committee had been targeting a Wednesday markup, but the sheet has yet to docket one. The House Ways and Means Committee and Agriculture Committee person yet to implicit their enactment arsenic well. 

The Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicaid, is tasked with identifying the biggest spending cuts — astatine slightest $880 cardinal implicit the adjacent decade. The effort has go among the astir intimately watched successful the reconciliation process, arsenic Republicans look to dispel concerns astir cuts to the fashionable entitlement program, stressing that they mean solely to basal retired waste, fraud and abuse, portion immoderate GOP hard-liners question deeper spending cuts. 

Meanwhile, disagreements implicit the authorities and section taxation deduction, known arsenic SALT, person travel earlier the Ways and Means Committee, arsenic conservatives reason a propulsion to summation the headdress from Republicans successful bluish states. Still, Ways and Means Committee president Jason Smith, a Missouri Republican, said Sunday connected Fox News that House Republicans volition "get the occupation done," adding that "failure is simply not an option."

"We're going to find the equilibrium constituent connected SALT that nary 1 volition beryllium wholly delighted with, but it'll lick the equation, and we'll get it done," Johnson said Monday, referring to the deduction by its acronym. 

Johnson said Monday that helium had spoken with Mr. Trump that time astir fund reconciliation, and helium noted that enactment is gathering with groups of members successful the GOP league connected Tuesday arsenic they effort to propulsion guardant connected the process. 

At his Tuesday quality conference, Johnson was asked whether helium has made assurances to the mean and blimpish factions of his league that helium can't keep. 

"I don't marque promises that I can't keep. This is simply a statement gathering operation," helium said. "We've been moving truly hard to instrumentality each the input and find that benignant of equilibrium constituent wherever everybody is astatine slightest satisfied. Some radical are not going to beryllium elated by each proviso of the bill. It's impossible. The measure is 1 big, beauteous bill." 

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, told members successful their greeting gathering that they request to "focus connected the totality of the measure and not conscionable idiosyncratic details," according to Johnson. 

But Scalise besides alluded to the program slipping beyond Memorial Day, telling reporters Tuesday aft the Republican league gathering that "we're connected way to proceed to present connected this 1 big, beauteous measure and get it done the process and ideally to get it connected the president's table successful June." 

Lawmakers besides formed uncertainty connected whether they could conscionable the Memorial Day deadline. 

"That's wishful thinking, I guess," Rep. Tim Burchett, a Tennessee Republican, said. "But you know, erstwhile I raised the velocity bounds successful Tennessee to 70, I asked for 85. And 70 is what I wanted, so."

Rep. Ralph Norman, a South Carolina Republican, said "the information that we're having the speech is good," but helium added that "we've got to act."

Jaala Brown contributed to this report.