(WASHINGTON) — House Republicans have worked through the night to move a megabill advancing President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda through a key committee — aiming to overcome division in the conference and advance the package to a House floor vote as soon as Wednesday.
The House Rules Committee hearing is going strong Wednesday morning after it started at 1 a.m. ET Wednesday with committee chairs and ranking members debating the details of the more than 1,000 page “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
The GOP is far from unified around the bill with several sticking points among Republican hard-liners primarily regarding Medicaid work requirements and a cap on state and local tax deductions. Trump spoke to Republicans on Capitol Hill Tuesday in an effort to persuade them to back his signature bill — at one point threatening to primary those who vote against it.
Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, one of the holdouts, said there is “no way” the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” passes in the House Wednesday — despite Speaker Mike Johnson’s goal of putting the bill on the floor as early as Wednesday after it clears the Rules Committee. Johnson is still working to secure holdouts’ votes, and still appears to lack the votes to pass the legislation on the House floor.
“We’re further away from a deal,” Harris said on Newsmax Wednesday morning. “This bill actually got worse overnight. There is no way it passes today.”
Key components of the legislation are set to come up in the Rules Committee Wednesday morning, which will focus on tax provisions, overhaul of SNAP and Medicaid cuts. However, GOP leaders have still not released expected changes — negotiated by hard-liners and moderates — to the tax and budget bill.
Rules Committee Chair Rep. Virginia Foxx emphasized that Republicans need to move forward on their bill to “ensure our economic survival.” She added that Republican changes to the package will be unveiled at some point during the hearing.
Meanwhile, Rep. Jim McGovern, the top Democrat on the Rules Committee, lambasted Republicans’ reconciliation bill.
“I’ve got a simple question. What the hell are Republicans so afraid of? What the hell are you so scared of that you guys are holding this hearing at 1 o’clock in the morning. It’s a simple question that speaks to the heart of what’s going on here, and one that I’m going to keep on asking, if Republicans are so proud of what is in this bill, then why are you trying to ram it through in the dead of night?” McGovern said.
Overnight, several Republican members left as Democrats burned the midnight oil — introducing various amendments to the package.
Ranking Member Bennie Thompson of Homeland Security expressed frustration with the process overnight.
“I described Homeland Security portion of this bill as putting lipstick on a pig. I come from an agricultural district as well as a part of the country. So let me use another farming analogy to wrap up: We may be here in the dead of night, but you do not need the light of day to smell manure. The American people are not going to be fooled by any middle-of-the-night, manure-slinging here,” the Mississippi Democrat said, adding that it “stinks to high heaven.”
There have been 537 amendments submitted from both Democrats and Republicans to the reconciliation package.
Overnight, several committee chairs and ranking members testified before the powerful panel including Armed Services, Budget, Oversight, Natural Resources, Financial Services, Judiciary, Homeland Security, Transportation, Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, Agriculture and Education.
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