‘Productive’ Meeting With Trump As House GOP Seeks Entente On ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’

A group of House Republicans huddled with President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday afternoon to reach a resolution for the “one big, beautiful bill.”

Included in the meeting, which came one day after Trump visited Capitol Hill to advocate for the legislation, were House GOP leaders as well as members of the conservative Freedom Caucus who are pushing for more extensive spending cuts in exchange for their support. With a slim House majority and near-certain Democrat opposition, Republicans can likely afford only a few defectors to send the bill to the Senate.

“The meeting was productive and moved the ball in the right direction. The President reiterated how critical it is for the country to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill as quickly as possible,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

Upon returning to the U.S. Capitol, House GOP leaders conveyed to the media they still planned to move forward with the package, with the introduction of a so-called manager’s amendment in the Rules Committee that is expected to include last-minute changes meant to placate holdouts. A vote could happen tonight otherwise or tomorrow morning.

The bill, which is progressing through Congress via the reconciliation process, aims to provide funding for Trump’s domestic priorities, retain the 2017 tax cuts, raise the debt limit, and more. It has a multitude of provisions, including “No Tax On Tips” and reforms to Medicaid.

One significant point of contention has been the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap. GOP lawmakers from high-tax blue states protested the $30,000 ceiling originally proposed in the legislation, but a deal was reportedly struck to lift the ceiling to $40,000. However, the SALT bargain threatens to alienate other Republicans.

Rep. John Rose (R-TN), who is running for governor of Tennessee, announced in a Wednesday afternoon post on X that he would vote “no” on the bill in its current form. He added in another post: “Raising the SALT deduction is a bailout for Democrat Governors — paid for by red states with low taxes. Tennesseans should not foot the bill for New York and California’s mismanagement.”