After President Donald Trump’s Tuesday meeting with the House GOP Conference, moderate Republicans are hoping that his stern command to unify will bring holdouts into line to vote for the budget reconciliation bill.
“Listen, the president spoke in a very strong way about the need to quit screwing around and pass this bill. And that did irritate some members who were there,” Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., told The Daily Signal after a press conference in which he promoted the bill.
If passed, the bill would fulfill a number of Trump’s campaign promises, such as funding border security and extending his first-term 2017 tax cuts.
However, major disagreements remain. House Republican fiscal hawks are demanding that the bill implement work requirements in Medicaid, while blue state Republicans are asking for a higher cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions against federal taxes, which lessen the effects of blue states’ high tax rates.
But many Republicans are calling for those members to put their disagreements to the side. The bill is set on a fast timeline, as it will go to the House Rules Committee for a vote at 1 a.m. Wednesday morning, which would clear the way for a floor vote.
“[The meeting] also reminded them that Donald Trump is a singular powerful political figure, and that he is fatigued by us messing around with this thing, as is much of America. It is time to land this plane, and my colleagues increasingly are coming to understand that is the cold, hard truth. This is a good bill. Let’s pass it,” Johnson said to The Daily Signal.
Johnson also argued that supporting the bill, despite its shortcomings, is the pragmatic thing to do.
“This bill is not perfect; it does not cut enough. If I was the only member of the House, we would probably cut another $500 billion or $1 trillion. But politics is the art of the possible, and this is the largest deficit-reduction measure in a generation,” he said, adding:
“And so, although it does not go far enough, it is a heck of a lot better than failure, which would increase taxes on 80% of American families.”
Rep. Erin Houchin, R-Ind., similarly said she hopes that Trump’s visit to the Capitol will unify Republicans.
“My impression is that President Trump’s message was widely, very well received this morning. He was clear that we’re probably not all going to get everything that we want in this package, but the things that we’re doing, as we mentioned in this press conference, are transformational,” she said.
“I think the message was well received, and I think we’re getting closer to having a consensus product,” she said.
“He was direct with us on what he expected. He was also in very good spirits, as was everybody in the room. It was a good time with the president to hear from him, to get his vision for what he wants us to do in the next week or so.”
This article was originally published at www.dailysignal.com
