President Donald Trump’s public pressure campaign on five Republican congressmen overnight worked as they got in line to advance his One Big Beautiful Bill.
The massive spending bill narrowly passed the Senate on Tuesday, and House Speaker Mike Johnson worked throughout the night Wednesday to satisfy members of his party who wavered on the signature legislation.
Johnson’s goal was to get the landmark legislation passed and on Trump’s desk before the Independence Day holiday on Friday.
But five Republicans have held up a procedural measure early Thursday that would simply advance the bill for a full vote.
Members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus (HFC) are raising concerns that the Senate’s version of Trump’s flagship domestic policy agenda does not go far enough to the right’s desire to shrink government.
HFC members have expressed doubts over the bill’s increased spending levels, provisions allowing government benefits for some illegal immigrants and funding for Biden-era renewable energy policies.
The five included: Rep. Andrew Clyde, of Georgia; Rep. Victoria Spartz, of Indiana; Rep. Keith Self, of Texas; Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, of Pennsylvania; and Rep. Thomas Massie, of Kentucky.
As the bill remained stalled, President Trump took to his Truth Social page in a post at 12:45 a.m. that hit out at the ‘ridiculous’ GOP holdouts.
He declared that ‘THIS SHOULD BE AN EASY YES VOTE’ for Republicans.
In an earlier post just after midnight, he asked what the five Republicans who voted against advancing the bill were ‘waiting for’ and what they were ‘trying to prove.’
Trump’s pressure campaign ultimately worked as the holdouts flipped in a tight 219 to 213 vote to get the bill past a procedural hurdle just after 3 a.m. ET.
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., was the only Republican holdout who voted against the motion to proceed.
President Donald Trump was left infuriated as the day began on Thursday and five Republican congressmen refused to advance his One Big Beautiful Bill
He declared on his Truth Social page that ‘this should be an easy ‘yes’ vote’ for Republicans
In another post he asked what the five Republicans who voted against advancing the bill were ‘waiting for’ and what they were ‘trying to prove’
That sets the House up for a vote on the bill’s final passage this morning, and it’s looking optimistic for the president.
Vice President JD Vance wrote on X that one of the GOP holdouts decided to back the bill based on Democrat Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ awful floor speech.
‘I was undecided on the bill but then I watched Hakeem Jeffries performance and now I’m a firm yes,’ said the text that Vance shared.
Jeffries spoke for hours on the floor ripping into the Trump administration and provisions of the bill, sending multiple members of his own party to sleep.
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Republican rebels threaten Trump's 'big, beautiful, bill' while president works to sway dissenters
Trump touted the provisions of his massive spending bill as he warned holdouts against flipping on him.
He claimed it would bring the ‘largest tax cuts in history and a booming economy’ and that the alternative is the ‘biggest tax increase in history and a failed economy.’
Trump had also been inserting himself directly into the negotiations, one administration official told Politico.
‘He’s been working the phones pretty consistently over the last several days, and members have been calling him as well,’ the official said. ‘He’s going to get it over the finish line.’
The HFC complaints have gotten more pointed as Congress is inching closer to the finish line to get the sweeping, nearly 900-page mega-bill passed before the president’s self-imposed deadline on Independence Day this Friday.
Dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), the massive measure would cut taxes on tips and overtime, fund border security and immigration initiatives and make cuts to Medicaid, SNAP and green energy subsidies.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also hit out at the Republicans who voted ‘no’ on advancing the Big Beautiful Bill.
‘Anyone who votes AGAINST the One Big Beautiful Bill is voting AGAINST: No Tax on Tips No Tax on Overtime No Tax on Social Security,’ she wrote on social media.
But the Republicans who voted against the measure have disagreed, with members of the House Freedom Caucus arguing the bill does not go far enough to shrink the size of the government.
They seemed to have been bolstered by Republican Sen. Rand Paul, who signaled he would stand by their efforts ‘to add ‘real savings’ to Big Not So Beautiful Bill.’
He also wrote on social media that he assured his colleagues in the House ‘that I can vote to allow a larger increase in debt ceiling if House attaches immediate REAL spending cuts.’
Those who voted against advancing the bill included Rep. Thomas Massie, of Kentucky; Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, of Pennsylvania; and Rep. Keith Self, of Texas
Rep. Victoria Spartz, of Indiana, and Rep. Andrew Clyde, of Georgia, also opposed the measure
Trump had tried to smooth the matter over with some House Republicans ahead of the vote on Wednesday, hosting groups of lawmakers at the White House so that he could convince them to support his policy package.
The president specifically met with some moderate Republicans and some far-right conservatives and was able to get some to commit to backing his bill.
With that in mind, Trump seemed hopeful about the bill advancing.
He wrote on his Truth Social page Wednesday that he ‘had GREAT conversations all day, and the Republican House Majority is UNITED, for the Good of our Country, delivering the Biggest Tax Cuts in History and MASSIVE Growth.
‘Let’s go Republicans, and everyone else – MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN,’ the president wrote at the time.
But Trump and House Speaker Johnson’s efforts apparently hit a snag when the House Freedom Caucus began circulating a three-page memo highlighting their gripes with the Senate version of the bill.
In effect, the memo was a laundry list of complaints about how the Senate watered down the House’s more conservative bill.
It specifically highlighted concerns about the bill’s increased spending levels, provisions allowing government benefits for some illegal immigrants and funding for Biden-era renewable energy policies.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the House-passed version of the bill would add $2.6 trillion to the deficit, while the current Senate-passed bill adds $3.4 trillion.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson walks behind his security detail through a crowd of reporters as he tries to push President Donald Trump’s signature bill of tax breaks and spending cuts across the finish line
House Speaker Johnson has since said he would keep the vote open for as long as it takes to convert some of the rebels and get them to change their votes.
He would have to flip the vote of at least two of the congressmen to advance the Big Beautiful Bill. Once that is completed, he planned to move forward with a vote on the bill itself as quickly as possible.
Yet Johnson seemed optimistic about his ability to get members of his party to switch their vote in remarks to Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Wednesday night.
He said he believes those who voted ‘no’ on the measure are ‘open for conversation.’
‘Everybody wants to deliver this agenda for the people, and we’re going to give them every opportunity to do that.’
‘We had a Senate bill that was sent over that was modified from the House version,’ Johnson continued explained.
‘We liked the House version better, no surprise about that, and we had reached a very delicate balance on it, so it’s taken a little while to go through the changes and to have everybody fully process that and figure out what that means for them and their districts.’
Voting will now continue until Johnson declares it is over.