Trump pressures GOP hard-liners to ‘unite’ behind bill that advances his agenda

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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump is weighing in on House Republicans’ mega-bill aimed at advancing his legislative agenda Friday morning — calling on his party to unite behind it despite objections from hard-liners.

As several hard-liners signaled that they would derail the tax and budget measure over concerns that it adds to a bloated national debt, Trump called on them to fall in line.

“We don’t need ‘GRANDSTANDERS’ in the Republican Party. STOP TALKING, AND GET IT DONE!” Trump posted on his social media channel Friday morning.

The president said that country will “suffer greatly” without the legislation and said Republicans “must unite.”

The president’s message comes as the House Republicans — particularly Speaker Mike Johnson — work to get the more than 1,000-page “Big Beautiful Bill Act” back on track as those holdouts complicate advancing the package out of the House Budget Committee as it convenes Friday morning.

Republican Reps. Ralph Norman, Chip Roy and Andrew Clyde are expected to vote against the tax and budget measure, leaving Republicans with only two votes they can lose.

Republican Rep. Josh Brecheen, who appeared skeptical on Thursday, said on social media that “we have a duty to know the true cost of this legislation before advancing it. If we are to operate in truth, we must have true numbers — even if that means taking some more time to obtain that truth.”

They are also working to strike a consensus on the SALT caps — the amount of state and local taxes that can be written off on federal tax returns — as moderates draw a red line opposing the proposed $30,000 cap on those deductions.

The vote is yet another test of Johnson’s speakership as he works to placate the hard-liners and unify the factions of his conference.

On Thursday, Johnson spoke with the holdouts and said budget negotiations are still ongoing.

“Keep this thing moving forward,” he said of the more than 1,000-page mega-bill.

Johnson said Friday that he is keeping President Donald Trump up to date with the latest developments with the massive package and that the president is excited about the House’s “forward progress.”

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