House Republicans are scrambling to finalize the details of their “one big, beautiful bill” of President Trump’s legislative priorities.
The White House is pushing to hold the vote Wednesday, even as warring Republican factions negotiate last-minute tweaks and some members warn they cannot yet support it.
GOP leaders have made some progress winning over holdouts, but hard-line conservatives say the bill in its current form does not have the votes to pass. Republicans can only afford three defections on the floor, assuming all members are present and voting.
The bill extends tax cuts Trump signed into law in 2017, delivers on campaign promises to end taxes on tips and overtime, and funds his defense and border priorities — while making cuts through reforms to Medicaid and nutrition assistance that Democrats warn will lead to millions of low-income Americans losing benefits.
More changes are expected to appease the holdouts, which have not yet been made public in legislative text. The House Rules Committee, which will approve those changes, passed the 12-hour mark in a marathon hearing shortly after 1 p.m. Wednesday afternoon.
Here are groups of Republicans to watch as leaders press forward.
House Freedom Caucus
Hard-line conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus are primarily pushing for bigger reforms to Medicaid and the acceleration of rolling back green energy tax incentives that Democrats had approved under the Biden administration.
This group consists of Chair Andy Harris (Md.) and Reps. Chip Roy (Texas), Ralph Norman (S.C.), Scott Perry (Pa.), Keith Self (Texas), Eric Burlison (Mo.), Clay Higgins (La.) and Michael Cloud (Texas).
There is agreement on moving up new Medicaid work requirements in the bill to start in December 2026 rather than in 2029, according to a White House official.
But Freedom Caucus members have been seeking more substantial cuts to Medicaid, with Roy pointing to Medicaid “money laundering” — a reference to the provider tax mechanism states use on health providers that allows them to extract larger matching Medicaid funds from the federal government.
“We got some work to do; hopefully we get this Medicaid stuff done today and land the plane,” Roy said on “The Charlie Kirk Show” Wednesday afternoon. “But it does need to change.”
Members of the group said they thought they had an agreement with the White House on changes on those measures overnight, but a White House official pushed back, saying the group received a menu of policy options the Trump administration would not oppose if they could garner enough support in the House to pass.
Freedom Caucus members and House GOP leaders are scheduled to meet at the White House at 3 p.m. Wednesday.
SALT Caucus Republicans
At the beginning of this week, moderate Republicans from high-tax blue states were among the most vocal — and dug in — holdouts to the Trump agenda bill, demanding a higher state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap.
Those members are Reps. Young Kim (Calif.), Nick LaLota (N.Y.), Mike Lawler (N.Y.), Tom Kean Jr. (N.J.), Andrew Garbarino (N.Y.) and Elise Stefanik (N.Y.).
Now, they appear to be on board.
SALT Caucus Republicans and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) zeroed in on an agreement Tuesday night that would increase the deduction cap to $40,000 for individuals making $500,000 or less in income, while increasing the deduction cap and income limits by 1 percent a year over 10 years.
The proposed deduction cap is quadruple the $10,000 cap in current law, and it’s more than the $30,000 deduction cap for individuals making $400,000 or less that leadership put in the package — which SALT Caucus Republicans deemed a nonstarter.
Sources told The Hill that several SALT Caucus members are on board with the plan. The deal is contingent on Trump endorsing the manager’s amendment to make the changes in the bill; the Speaker holding the line if the Senate balks; and the SALT Caucus going on “tour” to convince Senate Republicans to support the deal if the Speaker requests it.
Moderates who like tax credits
Speeding up the bill’s phasing out of green energy tax incentives — as hard-line conservatives want — risks losing support from moderate Republicans and those in districts that have benefited from such incentives.
The bill as written phases out credits for solar, wind and nuclear projects that come online between 2029 and 2032. Projects that start producing energy in 2029 can get 80 percent of the credit while those that join the grid in 2031 can only get 40 percent.
But the Freedom Caucus’s Harris said Wednesday that “as much of the green new scam should be eliminated as possible.”
Moderates for months have warned leaders against peeling those tax credits, though they have been generally supportive.
Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) led a group of 25 Republicans in a letter earlier this month asking for nuclear incentives to be preserved, providing a clue as to the members whose votes could be at stake over such changes. Other signatories on that letter included Reps. Jen Kiggans (Va.), Russell Fry (S.C.), Bill Huizenga (Mich.), Jeff Van Drew (N.J.), Dan Meuser (Pa.) and David Valadao (Calif.).
Thomas Massie
The libertarian Kentucky congressman is often a caucus of one, unafraid to oppose his party’s legislation if it does not meet his principles for deficit reduction or reducing the size and scope of government.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) is expected to oppose the bill no matter what — a dynamic that drew Trump’s ire when he visited the Capitol on Tuesday.
“I don’t think Thomas Massie understands government,” Trump told reporters before the meeting. “I think he’s a grandstander, frankly. I think he should be voted out of office.”
Massie made light of the jab, posting on social platform X: “President Trump said that although I have similar hair to @RandPaul , he thinks mine is better.”
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