President Donald Trump and House Republicans continued to negotiate a far-reaching tax and spending bill on Wednesday, holding discussions at the White House ahead of a potential vote.
After it wins approval in the House, the bill will head to the Republican-led Senate, which could make its own changes.
After leaving the White House negotiations on Wednesday, Speaker Mike Johnson said the full House could vote on the bill Wednesday night or Thursday morning, according to Politico.
Kentucky’s Thomas Massie, one of the Republican holdouts in the House, took to X to complain about the closed negotiations.
The White House has dismissed worries about the ballooning US debt, arguing that tax cuts will stimulate the economy.
President Donald Trump and House Republicans held talks at the White House on Wednesday in anticipation of a possible vote on a comprehensive tax and spending bill.
Members of the House Freedom Caucus, who have resisted supporting a bill they claim does not go far enough in cutting spending, met with Trump and his staff for several hours.
The bill includes many of Trump’s top priorities, including extending tax cuts from 2017, doing away with tip taxes, increasing spending on border security and defense, and reducing government health care programs.
According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the bill would increase the US national debt by roughly $2 trillion (£1 trillion) over the course of the following ten years.
Trump ran on a platform of lowering the US budget deficit, which is currently approximately $36 trillion (£27 trillion), or the yearly difference between the government’s tax revenue and spending.
In addition to a House committee meeting that started at 1:00 local time (05:00 GMT) on Wednesday, negotiators worked through the night on Tuesday.
Trump is limited to losing a few votes from his own party because Republicans have a slim majority in the House and Democrats consistently oppose the legislation. A self-imposed deadline to pass the bill by the end of the month, which is now ten days away, is another pressure point for him and his congressional allies.
Upon passing the House, the bill will proceed to the Senate, which is controlled by Republicans, where it may undergo additional modifications.
Politico reports that after departing the White House negotiations on Wednesday, Speaker Mike Johnson stated that the entire House could vote on the bill either Wednesday evening or Thursday morning.
The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” as the president has dubbed his proposal, is a “big, beautiful bill,” but House Freedom Caucus members who favor further spending cuts have opposed it.
However, a number of Republicans who represent districts in states that lean Democratic want to give their voters larger tax breaks. This will be accomplished by giving those voters more credits for paying comparatively high state taxes.
A delicate balance may be struck as Trump and Johnson attempt to appease both opposing groups.
Thomas Massie of Kentucky, a Republican who is still in the House, took to X to voice his displeasure with the closed negotiations. Trump called him a “grandstander” earlier this week.
“The big beautiful bill’s major provisions are still being negotiated and written, but we are being told we will vote on it today,” Massie observed. “Is it not worth spending a few hours reading a bill this significant and important?”.
In an effort to advance the bill, Trump also traveled to Capitol Hill on Tuesday. He met with Republicans and urged both tax-cut advocates and budget hawks to agree to the bill.
However, whether he was able to influence many votes was uncertain.
Democrats have stated in committee hearings and on social media that they will only vote against the bill because they believe it will unfairly punish Americans with lower incomes while benefiting the wealthy.
The White House has brushed off concerns about the US debt’s rapid growth, claiming that tax cuts will boost the economy. Additionally, Trump has stated that his separate tariff program will increase federal revenue. That being said, the majority of experts and economists concur with the nonpartisan CBO that the bill will increase the national debt.
Advocates of the bill have remained optimistic about its future.
According to Missouri Republican Jason Smith, “failure is not an option in getting this done.”.
