House Speaker Mike Johnson was forced to pull a vote on a Senate-approved budget blueprint Wednesday night after conservative holdouts refused to yield to pressure to back the measure needed to enact President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda.
Trump and House Republican leaders pressed the hardliners Wednesday to help pass the budget blueprint. As the vote neared Wednesday night, Johnson and Senate leaders reportedly met with the conservatives for more than an hour, seeking to assuage their concerns that the Senate would fall far short of the spending cuts they want.
Johnson told reporters the House would hold a vote on the plan “probably tomorrow, one way or the other.”
Earlier in the day, the House voted 216-215 largely along party lines to clear a procedural hurdle for the bill. Three Republicans joined with Democrats to vote against advancing the plan, and conservatives said many more were prepared to oppose the resolution in a final vote, leaving it unclear whether the Republican leaders could change enough minds. Johnson told reporters he believed they would get there. “Eventually we will,” he said.
Conservatives in the House said they want to be sure that the legislation that gets written based on the outline lawmakers approve will include spending cuts more in line with the $1.5 trillion or $2 trillion that the House outline requires rather than the $4 billion floor set by the Senate instructions. They made clear that they did not trust the Senate. “$4 BILLION in cuts compared to the House’s baseline of $1.5 TRILLION is a slap in the face, so let’s get serious!!” Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina wrote in a post on X. “It’s time for Republicans to face the truth. We’ve got an arithmetic problem we’ve got to solve!”
Some Republicans also oppose the “current policy baseline” accounting methodology used by the Senate to zero out the cost of renewing $4 trillion in tax cuts.
Trump lobbied hard this week for the holdouts to fall in line. He met with some at the White House on Tuesday, then pushed the plan in remarks at a Tuesday evening fundraiser for the National Republican Congressional Committee. “You just gotta get there,” he said to Republicans who might still have reservations. “Close your eyes and get there. It’s a phenomenal bill. Stop grandstanding. Just stop grandstanding.”
Trump promised Republicans would score a “massive victory” in the 2026 midterm elections and gain "40, 50, or even 60" House seats if they pass his agenda. He followed up with social media posts Wednesday morning. “Republicans, it is more important now, than ever, that we pass THE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL. The USA will Soar like never before!!!” he wrote, later adding, “It is IMPERATIVE that Republicans in the House pass the Tax Cut Bill, NOW! Our Country Will Boom!!!”
Despite that pressure and other efforts by the White House, Republican leaders were forced to postpone the vote while they tried to wrangle more members.
The bottom line: We’ll see what tomorrow brings.