‘We can’t make everyone 100% happy,’ says Johnson as it remains unclear if he has the numbers to pass bill
Speaker Mike Johnson has said “very positive” progress has been made toward passing Donald Trump’s megabill, but acknowledged that “we can’t make everyone 100% happy” with the final package, CNN reports.
CNN quotes Johnson as telling reporters:
When you have a piece of legislation that is this comprehensive and with so many agenda items involved, you’re going to have lots of different priorities and preferences among people because they represent different districts and they have different interests.
But we can’t make everyone 100% happy. It’s impossible. This is a deliberative body. It’s a legislative process. By definition, all of us have to give up on our personal preferences. [I’m] never going to ask anybody to compromise core principles, but preferences must be yielded for the greater good, and that’s what I think people are recognizing and come to grips with.
It remains unclear if he has the numbers needed to pass the bill as the House prepares to take a key procedural vote to get the bill closer to final passage.
Johnson said he – and Trump – have been speaking to conservative hardliners and swing-district Republicans all day about their concerns, adding that “there’s more conversations to be held”.
We’ve had lots of great conversations. I’ve met with individuals and groups all day long, as has the president – who’s fully engaged as well – trying to convince everybody this is the very best product that we can produce. There’s more conversations to be held.
Key events
Chris Stein
The Congressional Black Caucus, which is composed entirely of Democrats, just held a press conference to blast the tax and spending policies Republicans are seeking to pass through Congress, saying they would be devastating for African Americans.
“This bill is cruel and evil. It was ugly when it first passed the House, and then the Senate Republicans made it worse. The big, ugly bill will cost people their lives,” said Illinois congresswoman Robin Kelly.
“We know who will be most impacted: Black people. 13.3 million Black people rely on Medicaid. That includes 5.7m children. And if that isn’t bad enough, the consequences of this bill go beyond the individual person. It will impact hospitals, which in turn, affect everyone, even if you aren’t covered by Medicaid.”
Chris Stein
Russ Vought, the director of the White House office of management and budget, was spotted entering the Capitol as Republican leaders seek to persuade holdouts in their party to support Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill.
CNN is reporting that the White House has informed House GOP leaders that Trump got the hardliner holdouts to a better place, citing a person familiar with the discussions. As we’ve been reporting, some of those members have suggested they are closer to a yes after a “productive” meeting with the president, though some details are still being ironed out.
As intense behind-the-scenes negotiations drag on and the House remains frozen, NBC News reports that GOP leaders are also telling members that at least two Republicans who are expected to support the bill have not arrived at the Capitol yet, and that is part of the reason why a vote on an amendment is being held open. One thing is for certain, though: the leadership are furiously working to get the holdouts on-side, as losing the rule vote would be a major embarrassment for the president.
House at standstill as GOP leaders continue to try to rally holdouts, delaying rule vote
Lawmakers have been told they can leave the House floor as delays have led to a five-minute procedural vote remaining open for over an hour while GOP leaders frantically try to rally Republican holdouts to get behind the bill.
Johnson left the floor and went back to his office on the phone, according to NBC News, while the Hill reports that many of the deficit hawks in the Freedom caucus and beyond, who have threatened to tank the bill, are still in a meeting in his ceremonial office off the House floor.
With the House at a standstill, the all-important rule vote has also been delayed and we have no timing on when it might happen.
US judge blocks Trump asylum ban at US-Mexico border, saying he exceeded his authority
A federal judge has blocked Donald Trump’s asylum ban at the US-Mexico border, saying the president exceeded his authority when he issued a proclamation declaring illegal immigration an emergency and setting aside existing legal processes.
The US district judge Randolph Moss said in a 128-page opinion that Trump’s 20 January proclamation blocking all immigrants “engaged in the invasion across the southern border” from claiming asylum or other humanitarian protections went beyond his executive power.
The ruling is a setback for Trump, whose aggressive immigration crackdown has seen the number of people caught crossing illegally plummet to record low levels.
The American Civil Liberties Union brought the challenge to Trump’s asylum ban in February, arguing it violated US laws and international treaties.
Moss said he would stay the effective date of his order for 14 days to allow the Trump administration to appeal.
Key GOP holdout says he’s ‘a little closer’ to voting yes after Trump-Vance meeting
Tim Burchett, of Tennessee, struck a positive note after a two-hour meeting he and other conservatives had with Donald Trump at the White House this afternoon, saying it was “very productive” and put him “a little closer” to voting yes on the president’s megabill.
He told CNN:
It puts me a little closer. We’re going to meet a little bit here and go over everything and make sure we got all our facts straight.
In a post on X, Burchett said JD Vance had also been present at the “very informative” meeting with the president and declared it was “a very good day”. He said:
The president was wonderful as always, informative, funny, told me he likes seeing me on TV, which is kind of cool.
Big day today, folks. Hopefully we get this thing worked out. The president answered all of our questions, was very informative. JD Vance was there. This was a very good day.
‘We can’t make everyone 100% happy,’ says Johnson as it remains unclear if he has the numbers to pass bill
Speaker Mike Johnson has said “very positive” progress has been made toward passing Donald Trump’s megabill, but acknowledged that “we can’t make everyone 100% happy” with the final package, CNN reports.
CNN quotes Johnson as telling reporters:
When you have a piece of legislation that is this comprehensive and with so many agenda items involved, you’re going to have lots of different priorities and preferences among people because they represent different districts and they have different interests.
But we can’t make everyone 100% happy. It’s impossible. This is a deliberative body. It’s a legislative process. By definition, all of us have to give up on our personal preferences. [I’m] never going to ask anybody to compromise core principles, but preferences must be yielded for the greater good, and that’s what I think people are recognizing and come to grips with.
It remains unclear if he has the numbers needed to pass the bill as the House prepares to take a key procedural vote to get the bill closer to final passage.
Johnson said he – and Trump – have been speaking to conservative hardliners and swing-district Republicans all day about their concerns, adding that “there’s more conversations to be held”.
We’ve had lots of great conversations. I’ve met with individuals and groups all day long, as has the president – who’s fully engaged as well – trying to convince everybody this is the very best product that we can produce. There’s more conversations to be held.
Members of the House Freedom caucus and others are meeting in a ceremonial office off the House floor, and walking back and forth between there and the House floor, the Hill is reporting, moments before the chamber is set to vote on advancing the bill.
The Hill has this observation: “Ralph Norman, of South Carolina, and caucus chair Andy Harris, of Maryland, who had pledged to vote against the rule earlier today, are notably not answering now when asked if they’re still going to vote no.”
Preliminary motion on bill passes through House on party lines, but unclear whether GOP has numbers for later vote
Chris Stein
Back on the House floor, Republicans have just managed to get through the chamber a preliminary motion on the bill.
The motion, which was approved on party lines with 214 in favor and 212 against, sets the stage for another vote later in the afternoon to adopt the rule. If that is successful, the chamber will debate the bill, then vote on its final passage.
However, it remains unclear whether the GOP has the votes it needs to pass the rule.
Chris Stein
On their way into the Capitol, two conservative Republican lawmakers signaled optimism that the bill would get through the House.
“I think these votes will take a little, a little bit or a lot longer than usual. But that’s Washington. You guys are watching how the sausage is made, and that’s how business is run,” Nancy Mace told reporters.
Like several other lawmakers, she wound up driving from her South Carolina district to Washington DC after a flurry of thunderstorms yesterday prompted major flight delays and cancellations around the capital.
“There’s things in the bill I don’t like, but would I change the bill because I didn’t get what I wanted? I don’t think that would be good for America,” said Troy Nehls of Texas, as he smoked a cigar.
