A band of House conservative hard-liners is threatening to defeat a procedural vote on the Republican megabill and demand further negotiations over President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.”
Rep. Andy Harris, chair of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus, said he was opposed to the Senate-passed version of the GOP megabill and called on Trump to order senators back to town for further negotiations.
Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), another Freedom Caucus member, said he planned to vote against the “rule” setting up final floor consideration of the bill and “start discussions where we can get back into” a fiscal framework hard-liners had negotiated with Speaker Mike Johnson.
Harris and Johnson spoke on the floor Wednesday as a preliminary vote was held open with more than a dozen GOP members not voting. With full attendance and Democrats uniformly opposed to the megabill, only four GOP defections can tank the effort.
Harris, the Maryland Republican, who voted “present” when the bill passed the House in May, could be seen seated and gesticulating broadly while Johnson stood listening with his hands in his pockets, looking away. Johnson walked away from the conversation looking unhappy.
Harris told reporters he did not expect the votes on the rule to succeed until it’s brought back closer to the House version.
“There’s a little work left to be done, but if the president calls the Senate back in town, we should be able to do it,” he said, adding, “I haven’t spoken to the president about it.”
Senators left Washington Tuesday after passing their version of the bill and are not expected back until next week — after Trump’s self-imposed July 4 deadline.
