House Republicans toiled through the night and into the early hours of Thursday to rescue Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.” A final vote on the tax cut and Medicaid-slashing legislation is expected soon, potentially meeting Trump’s self-imposed July 4 deadline.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., had hoped for a smooth path after the Senate passed the sweeping bill earlier this week, but far-right holdouts and uneasy moderates threw the process into chaos Wednesday evening. A procedural vote on the legislation turned into a hours-long standoff and sent Johnson and Trump scrambling to avert a collapse.
Five Republicans — Reps. Keith Self of Texas, Victoria Spartz of Indiana, Andrew Clyde of Georgia, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania —voted against the rule that would allow the House to proceed to final debate. Eight others initially withheld their votes altogether, leaving Johnson without the slim majority he needed.
Johnson kept the vote open for nearly six hours as he worked the floor, telling Fox News that he would keep the vote open “for as long as it takes.” By around 3:30 a.m., all but one GOP dissenter, Fitzpatrick, had flipped, and the rule passed 219–213. All Democrats voted against.
“The Senate broke the House framework, and then they stomped all over it. Now, House leadership wants to cram this broken bill down our throats by rushing it to the floor while in the middle of discussions, completely disregarding their promises.” Self explained on X earlier in the evening, defending his initial opposition. “Ultimately, this is an issue of morality. Abiding by our word is the only thing we have; therefore, as the bill currently stands, I voted against the rule.”
But by dawn, his resolve, and that of his colleagues, had weakened.
Trump himself weighed in on Truth Social throughout the night, alternating between threats and appeals. “What are you trying to prove??? MAGA IS NOT HAPPY, AND IT’S COSTING YOU VOTES!!!” he wrote shortly after midnight.
Trump posted again a half an hour later, noting the wobbling of some Republicans.
Holdouts said they extracted vague assurances from the White House about implementing the bill. But a person close to the discussions told Politico the overnight talks were “more just expression of concerns and priorities that are shared by the administration,” than concrete concessions.
By 3:00 a.m., Johnson was confident they’d locked in the votes. Moments before they flipped their votes, the Speaker took a photo of the holdouts.
Democrats remain unified in opposition. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called Republicans “extremists” who wanted to gut Americans’ health care. He began a floor speech during the bill debate right before 5 a.m., and is still speaking as of the time of writing.
“It guts Medicaid in a way that’s going to hurt children, hurt families, hurt seniors, hurt people with disabilities, hurt women, hurt everyday Americans,” he said during the speech. “Hospitals will close, including all throughout rural America.”
But Republicans, despite early grumblings, appeared on the brink of to delivering Trump his legislative victory.
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