Trump is heading to Capitol Hill to persuade divided GOP to unify around
his 'big, beautiful' bill
[May 20, 2025]
By LISA MASCARO, KEVIN FREKING and LEAH ASKARINAM
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is heading to Capitol Hill
early Tuesday to seal the deal on his “big, beautiful bill," using the
power of political persuasion to unify divided House Republicans on the
multitrillion-dollar package that is at risk of collapsing ahead of
planned votes this week.
Trump has implored GOP holdouts to “STOP TALKING, AND GET IT DONE.” But
negotiations are slogging along and it's not at all clear the package,
with its sweeping tax breaks and cuts to Medicaid, food stamps and green
energy programs, has the support needed from the House's slim Republican
majority, who are also being asked to add some $350 billion to Trump's
border security, deportation and defense agenda.
Conservatives are insisting on quicker, steeper cuts to federal programs
to offset the costs of the trillions of dollars in lost tax revenue. At
the same time, a core group of lawmakers from New York and other
high-tax states want bigger tax breaks for their voters back home.
Worries about piling onto the nation's $36 trillion debt are stark.
“I think it’s pretty obvious that they’re going to need more time,” said
Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus.
“These are complicated issues with trillions of dollars,” he said.
“We’ve got to do this thing right.”
Trump's visit to address House Republicans at their weekly conference
meeting comes at a pivotal moment, testing the president's deal-making
powers. House Speaker Mike Johnson is determined to push the bill
forward and needs Trump to provide the momentum, either by encouragement
or political warnings or a combination of both.
With House Democrats lined up against the package, GOP leaders have
almost no votes to spare. A key committee hearing is set for the middle
of the night Tuesday in hopes of a House floor vote by Wednesday
afternoon.
Democrats argue the package is little more than a giveaway to the
wealthy at the expense of health care and food programs Americans rely
on.
“They literally are trying to take health care away from millions of
Americans at this very moment in the dead of night," said House
Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
“If this legislation is designed to make life better for the American
people, can someone explain to me why they would hold a hearing to
advance the bill at 1 a.m. in the morning?”
Trump has been pushing hard for Republicans to unite behind the bill,
which has been uniquely shaped in his image as the president's signature
domestic policy initiative in Congress.
The sprawling 1,116-page package carries Trump's title, the “ One Big
Beautiful Bill Act," as well as his campaign promises to extend the tax
breaks approved during his first term while adding new ones, including
no taxes on tips, automobile loan interest and Social Security.
Yet, the price tag is rising and lawmakers are wary of the votes ahead,
particularly as the economy teeters with uncertainty.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks during a news conference
at the Capitol, May 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey,
Jr., File)
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan fiscal
watchdog group, estimates that the House bill is shaping up to add
roughly $3.3 trillion to the debt over the next decade.
Republicans criticizing the measure argued that the bill’s new
spending and tax cuts are front-loaded, while the measures to offset
the cost are back-loaded.
In particular, the conservative Republicans are looking to speed up
the new work requirements that Republicans want to enact for
able-bodied participants in Medicaid. They had been proposed to
start Jan. 1, 2029, but GOP Majority Leader Steve Scalise said on
CNBC that work requirements for some Medicaid beneficiaries would
begin in early 2027.
At least 7.6 million fewer people are expected to have health
insurance under the initial Medicaid changes, the nonpartisan
Congressional Budget Office said last week.
Republican holdouts are also looking to more quickly halt green
energy tax breaks, which had been approved as part of the Biden-era
Inflation Reduction Act, and are now being used for renewable energy
projects across the nation.
But for every change Johnson considers to appease the hard-right
conservatives, he risks losing support from more traditional and
centrist Republicans. Many have signed on to letters protesting deep
cuts to Medicaid and food assistance programs and the rolling back
of clean energy tax credits.
At its core, the sprawling legislative package permanently extends
the existing income tax cuts and bolsters the standard deduction,
increasing it to $32,000 for joint filers, and the child tax credit
to $2,500.
The New Yorkers are fighting for a larger state and local tax
deduction beyond the bill's proposal. As it stands, the bill would
triple what’s currently a $10,000 cap on the state and local tax
deduction, increasing it to $30,000 for joint filers with incomes up
to $400,000 a year. They have proposed a deduction of $62,000 for
single filers and $124,000 for joint filers.
If the bill passes the House this week, it would then move to the
Senate, where Republicans are also eyeing changes.
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Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed to this
report.
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