Trump to visit Capitol to build House GOP support for his massive agenda bill

President Trump will visit Capitol Hill on Tuesday to rally Republicans to pass the “big, beautiful bill,” an intervention needed to save his agenda from collapsing amid policy fights between conservatives and moderates.

House Republicans are hoping to pass the massive package of tax and spending cuts by Thursday, but currently lack the votes to do so.

GOP leaders cannot afford more than three defections, given united Democratic opposition, but are having trouble balancing competing demands within their party.

Conservatives want to speed up the repeal of clean energy tax credits that other Republicans want to protect. Likewise, hard-liners are seeking reductions in the federal share of Medicaid spending on able-bodied adults, but moderates don’t want states to have to pick up the costs.

Republicans from California, New Jersey and New York are demanding a higher cap on the federal deduction for state and local taxes, known as SALT. But conservatives are reluctant to approve a more generous SALT deduction than the $30,000 cap already put in the bill, particularly without offsetting spending cuts or revenue increases.

GOP leaders have already agreed to move up the implementation date for Medicaid work requirements in the bill from 2029 to 2027, said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Louisiana Republican, on CNBC. 

That’s one of the changes conservatives sought that does not appear to have rankled any moderates, but the balancing act among the other provisions may prove more tough. 

“The margins are tight, but we’re getting it done, and we’re going to get it done this week in the House,” Mr. Scalise said.

Mr. Trump had urged Republicans to unite around the bill in a social media post on Friday.

“We don’t need ‘grandstanders’ in the Republican Party. Stop talking, and get it done!” he said. “It is time to fix the mess that Biden and the Democrats gave us. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

But Mr. Trump’s plea did not prevent the bill from hitting a snag in the Budget Committee on Friday, when four members of the House Freedom Caucus voted against it in pursuit of steeper spending cuts. 

Republican leaders spent the weekend negotiating with holdouts. Reps. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Chip Roy of Texas, Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma and Andrew S. Clyde of Georgia switched their votes to “present” when the committee reconvened Sunday night.

The four Freedom Caucus members said their votes reflected the progress that had been made in negotiations, including agreements to speed up implementation of the Medicaid work requirements and phase outs of some clean energy tax credits. But they, along with several of their colleagues not on the Budget Committee, warned more changes are needed before they can support the measure on the floor. 

“The bill does not yet meet the moment — leaving almost half of the green new scam subsidies continuing,” Mr. Roy said on X. “More, it fails to end the Medicaid money laundering scam and perverse funding structure that provides seven times more federal dollars for each dollar of state spending for the able-bodied relative to the vulnerable.”  

Mr. Clyde said he was able to secure a provision eliminating taxes on firearm suppressors, or silencers, but he is seeking more accommodations on Second Amendment priorities. 

The Budget Committee’s role in the process was to piece together the pieces of the bill approved across 11 disparate committees of jurisdiction. The measure now heads to the Rules Committee, which is where any final changes would be made before a floor vote. 

The Rules Committee is scheduled to meet at 1 a.m. Wednesday, which leaves GOP leaders little time to strike agreements with conservatives and moderates who want further tweaks. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, has acknowledged the work ahead but said after the Budget Committee markup that he is “absolutely convinced” that Republicans can agree to a final version that can pass by his Memorial Day deadline and ideally by Thursday, when the House is scheduled to adjourn for the holiday recess.  

White House aides have been participating in negotiations on the Capitol Hill, but Mr. Trump’s visit on Tuesday will help lay on the pressure. 

The White House Council of Economic Advisers released data on Monday showing how passing the bill could create 7 million new jobs and real wages between $6,000 to $11,000 per worker. 

Stephen Miran, the lead economic adviser, said the measure “will create a real economic growth boom of 4.2% to 5.2% over the next four years and 2.9% to 3.5% in the long run.”