House Republicans face a high-stakes showdown on Wednesday over President Trump’s massive tax and spending bill, with its fate hanging in the balance. With their slim majority on the line, Speaker Mike Johnson is struggling to unite a fractured party ahead of a key procedural vote that will signal whether the legislation has enough support to pass.
President Trump is pushing hard for the legislation, which extends his 2017 tax cuts, funds a border crackdown, and slashes social programs. He wants the bill on his desk by the July 4th holiday.
However, the bill’s hefty price tag is a major sticking point. The Senate passed a version that nonpartisan analysts project will add $3.4 trillion to the national debt over the next decade.
The biggest hurdle for Johnson comes from within his party. A group of hardline conservatives, led by representatives like Chip Roy, argues the bill doesn’t cut spending enough and has threatened to vote against it.
At the same time, some moderate Republicans are concerned about the deep cuts to the Medicaid health program, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates could result in nearly 12 million people losing their health insurance.
Meanwhile, Democrats are unified in their opposition to the bill. They are blasting the bill as an assault on American healthcare that benefits the wealthy at the expense of working families. The procedural vote will be the first real test of whether Johnson can overcome these deep divisions and deliver a win for the White House.
