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The president visited the weekly meeting of House Republicans to make the case for the legislation and pressure members of his party to fall into line. Later, negotiations with key holdouts appeared to be bearing fruit.
Published May 20, 2025Updated May 21, 2025, 4:25 a.m. ET
President Trump on Tuesday pressured House Republicans to unify around a wide-ranging bill to deliver his domestic agenda, as party leaders haggled with key holdouts over changes to the legislation aimed at winning their votes.
Joining them at their weekly closed-door party meeting, Mr. Trump pushed Republicans to drop their reservations about the legislation and embrace the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which leaders hope to bring to a vote by the end of the week. The president made it clear that he saw the package as a test of loyalty to him, saying he had been a “cheerleader” for the party, and warning that any holdouts “wouldn’t be a Republican much longer.”
The entreaties from Mr. Trump on Tuesday morning appeared to do little to resolve the rifts that have plagued the measure for weeks. Many Republicans emerged from the session saying they still were not sold, and wanted further changes before they could back the bill.
But by Tuesday evening, Speaker Mike Johnson’s behind-the-scenes negotiations with lawmakers from divergent factions across his conference appeared to have yielded some progress. He told reporters at the Capitol that they were “still finalizing things, but it’s not going to be a heavy lift.”
The powerful Rules Committee began meeting after midnight on Wednesday morning and debated the measure for hours as Republican leaders tried to hammer out changes that would win over key holdouts. The panel was expected to approve the measure, clearing it for the floor and allowing the package of changes to be added before it comes to a final vote.
“There are a lot of good things that have happened,” said Representative Chip Roy of Texas, who has become the unofficial ringleader of the House’s conservative wing holding out for major changes in the bill. “We’re in a better spot than we were a week ago. We’re in a better spot than we were even 48 hours ago. But there’s still a lot of things we’re ironing out.”
