WASHINGTON — House Republican leaders faced a last-minute revolt Wednesday by members of the party’s hardline conservative faction, who opposed their latest attempt to win support from moderate members of the conference for President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful” tax bill.
As a pivotal meeting of the House Rules Committee entered its twelfth hour after starting at 1:00 a.m., members of the House Freedom Caucus reiterated their objection to Speaker Mike Johnson’s self-imposed Memorial Day deadline for passing the bill on the House floor.
“I don’t think it can be done today. I mean, the runway is short today. The leadership is going to have to figure out you know where to go from here,” House Freedom Caucus chair Andy Harris, R-Md., told reporters on Capitol Hill.
Another deficit hawk, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said conservative holdouts had been invited to the White House on Wednesday afternoon for a last-minute meeting with Trump.
“We’re going to work with the president today, we’re going to work with our colleagues to deliver, but there’s a long way to go,” Roy told reporters.
UNITED STATES – MAY 21: Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, left, and House Freedom Caucus chair Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., along with members of the House Freedom Caucus speak to reporters about the One Big Beautiful Bill Act reconciliation package in the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, May 21, 2025.
Bill Clark | Cq-roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
Johnson’s narrow Republican majority means that he can only lose a handful of votes from his conference and still pass the bill on a straight party line vote.
Harris, Roy and the rest of the Freedom Caucus wield enough votes and influence that their continued opposition to passing the package all but guarantees that it wouldn’t pass in its current form.
Still, both Johnson and Trump remained hopeful on Wednesday that they could force the bill through the chamber before members leave for the holiday weekend.
“There is a chance for a vote today,” Johnson said early in the day.
Trump projected more confidence, saying he felt “very well” about the bill during brief remarks to reporters at the White House.
“We’re doing really well, it’s very close,” Trump said of the bill before a meeting with South African president Cyril Ramaphosa.
Before the tax package can proceed to a vote on the House floor, Republicans on the Rules Committee must vote to adopt the specific slate of rules that will govern debate on the bill ahead of the actual vote.
The bill seeks to deliver on Trump’s key campaign promises, and includes provisions to make permanent Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, raising the SALT cap and eliminate taxes on tips.
A new analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates “that in general, resources would decrease for households in the lowest decile (tenth) of the income distribution, whereas resources would increase for households in the highest decile.”
Trump visited the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday to personally advocate for the bill, issuing a stark warning to House Republicans to not “f— around with Medicaid.”
Some House Republicans want cuts to the massive Medicaid health-care coverage program, which covers primarily low-income people.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
