Editor’s note: This page reflects the news from the House debate on President Trump’s tax bill from Wednesday, July 2. For the latest news on the legislation, read USA TODAY’s live updates for Thursday, July 3.

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump is closing in on a big second-term win on his signature legislative package of tax reductions and Medicaid cuts, as House Republicans cleared a key procedural hurdle to get the bill to the president’s desk by a self-imposed July 4 deadline.

The House started debating Trump’s legislative package of tax reductions and Medicaid cuts on Wednesday, but Republican leaders struggled to chart a path to victory with their narrow majorities in Congress. The House voted 219-213 to move forward, setting up a final vote of yes or no on Trump’s domestic agenda, ending taxes on tips and overtime, cutting Medicaid, and bolstering border security.

But the vote doesn’t guarantee the final vote will succeed because several lawmakers who oppose the bill’s $3.3 trillion price tag are still seeking changes.

“We’re in a good place right now,” House Speaker Mike Johnson , R-Louisiana, told reporters after “a long, productive day” meeting with skeptical colleagues. “This is the legislative process. This is exactly how I think the framers intended for it to work.”

Trump and Republican leaders in Congress are now on the cusp of a major victory. The GOP captured a power trifecta during the 2024 elections and has used that political muscle to force their bill through both chambers at a rapid-fire pace, despite deep reservations within their own party.

The House approved its initial version of the bill on a 215-214 vote in May. After four days of marathon debate and voting, the Senate approved its version in a 51-50 vote July 1. Three Republicans voted no and Vice President JD Vance broke the tie.

“The bill passed, and I think it’s going to do very well in the House,” Trump told reporters July 1 after the Senate vote. “We’ll see how that works out, but it looks like it’s ahead of schedule.”

Trump spent July 2 out of the public eye with no events scheduled. In the morning, the president, Vance, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz, and other Republican lawmakers huddled at the White House with reluctant GOP lawmakers, including South Dakota Rep. Dusty Johnson, who later described the talks as “really productive.”

Big Beautiful Bill 101: What you need to know about Trump’s tax bill

Multiple House Republicans who preferred their version of the bill − including Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland − nonetheless remained throughout the day opposed to the Senate version. Harris is head of the House Freedom Caucus, which aims to cut federal spending. Their concerns were partly to blame for Johnson and GOP leaders holding open a series of procedural floor votes while working behind the scenes to line up support.

A wavering Republican who voted yes on July 1, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said the House should recognize “we’re not there yet” and make improvements before sending it back to the Senate.

“Because we have two options here, right? Kill it and it’s gone,” Murkowski said.

Here’s what we know about the bill:

House empties and Trump fumes

By 1 a.m., the House floor had largely been cleared out as a vote on the rule to begin considering Trump’s sweeping tax policy bill remained open. Republicans lack the votes to pass it, and they’re hoping some members will change their minds.

Trump expressed his displeasure early Thursday.

“FOR REPUBLICANS, THIS SHOULD BE AN EASY YES VOTE. RIDICULOUS!!!,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

Johnson has pledged to keep the floor open as long as it takes to get his conference on board. If this vote fails, they can attempt it again.

Johnson is pushing to meet Republicans’ self-imposed July 4 deadline.

— Riley Beggin

Will the House vote on Wednesday? Thursday? Ever?

Members of the House Freedom Caucus and other lawmakers wary of this sweeping bill trickled out of a meeting near the House chamber.

On his way out, Rep. Ralph Norman, R-South Carolina, said he and others have lingering concerns on a number of bill provisions.

“There won’t be any vote until we can get satisfied,” Norman said. “There’s about 25 of us.”

“Look, I got problems with all this bill. I got trouble with all of it,” he added.

Norman, who said his vote is currently undecided, said the options are revise the legislation and send it back to the Senate for what will probably be another heated debate. Or, “get our questions answered and support it.”

Asked if the finish line could come today, Norman said, “Probably not.” Tomorrow? “Hey, it’s like the wind. I can’t predict that.”

— Savannah Kuchar

House votes on rule for Trump legislative package

House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters heading into votes that it’s been “a long, productive day,” after a procedural vote was held open for hours so that leaders could negotiate with a skeptical lawmaker.

“We’re in a good place right now. This is the legislative process,” he said. “This is exactly how i think the framers intended for it to work.”

— Riley Beggin

Trump cheers House vote

Trump cheered the House vote from the White House on social media.

“The USA is on track to break every record on GROWTH,” Trump said. “Go Republicans, beat the Crooked Democrats tonight! PRO-GROWTH Tax Cuts never fail.”

–Bart Jansen

One House holdout explains his vote

Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, explained his no vote on the rule while House Speaker Mike Johnson continues to twist arms. “I came to Washington to help rein in our national debt,” he wrote. Congressional leaders agreed to match the amount of tax cuts with the amount of spending cuts, and “the Senate broke the House framework,” he said. “Ultimately, this is an issue of morality,” he wrote. “Abiding by our word is the only thing we have; therefore, as the bill currently stands, I voted against the rule.” – Riley Beggin

House holds vote open to twist arms

Four House Republicans have voted against the rule for debating Trump’s legislative package, which would be enough to kill it, but they can still change their votes before the vote is gaveled done.

GOP Reps. Andrew Clyde of Georgia, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Keith Self of Texas and Victoria Spartz of Indiana have each voted no preliminarily.

Nine Republicans haven’t voted. A couple of them – Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Andy Harris of Maryland – have said they would vote against the rule, which calls for accepting Senate changes to the bill without amendments.

But House leaders can afford to lose only three votes to keep the bill alive for a final vote. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, has been circulating on the floor, in an apparent effort to get colleagues to change their votes. -Bart Jansen

Tennessee Republican says nothing’s been resolved

Tennessee Republican Rep. Tim Burchett huddled with members of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus but came away saying none of their concerns about the bill have been resolved, as leaders were delaying votes.

House Freedom Caucus members have complained that the Senate version of the bill adds more to the deficit than the House version. They’ve called for leadership to return to the House framework of the bill. Burchett is not a member of the caucus but often aligns with their values.

“We’re not negotiating anything because there’s nobody, just House members,” Burchett said.

He excited the Capitol and said he was going to get a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch. – Sudiksha Kochi

House waiting for GOP lawmakers to return to Capitol: Scalise

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Louisiana, said leaders were delaying votes on Trump’s legislative priorities to give time for lawmakers to travel back to Washington, after thunderstorms delayed flights.

“We need them here, as you know,” Scalise told reporters. “We need their votes, and they’re going to be here shortly. And so when they get here, within the next hour, we’ll come back, finish this vote, then go straight into the rule vote.”

Six Republicans missed an early procedural vote, when they weren’t needed. But several Republicans have voiced opposition to rubber-stamping the Senate version of the bill, so leaders want to have as many members on hand as possible.

Scalise said leaders still plan to vote on the legislation July 2. – Sudiksha Kochi

House delays calling vote on Trump bill for further negotiations

House votes ground to a mid-afternoon halt as Republican leaders negotiated with potential holdouts against Trump’s legislative package.

The House had scheduled two procedural votes before getting to a key vote on the rule that would govern debate on the bill. But one of those votes – a technical amendment to the rule – has been held open an hour longer than scheduled.

Members of the Freedom Caucus, who seek greater cuts in federal spending, were meeting with leaders in a room off the House floor.

The head of the caucus, Rep. Andy Harris, R-Maryland, earlier said he opposed the rule and a vote on the rule would fail unless changes are made to the bill. But any changes would send the bill back to the Senate and further delay potential passage.

“The rule vote will fail if he brings it to the floor,” Harris told reporters about Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana. “Right now what the president should be doing is calling the Senate back into town.”

Three other Republicans – Reps. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Chip Roy of Texas and Thomas Massie of Kentucky – have signaled opposition to the rule. – Bart Jansen

Rep. Keith digs in against bill

While some of his fellow fiscal conservatives begin to lay the groundwork for an eventual vote for Trump’s tax bill, GOP Rep. Keith Self of Texas is digging in.

The Senate’s version of the bill “is morally and fiscally bankrupt,” Self wrote in a post on X, along with a list of policy points he opposes in the bill.

“We must get back closer to the House-passed version.” – Riley Beggin

Davidson supports Senate version of Trump bill

Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio, one of two Republicans who voted against the House version of Trump’s legislative package, said he would support the Senate changes now pending in the House.

“Republicans have been fighting for many of these policies for decades and President Trump got the job done,” Davidson said on social media. “It’s clear this is the best deal on the table, and I encourage my colleagues to support it.” – Bart Jansen

Rep. Dusty Johnson: Medicaid explanations assuaging some members

Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-South Dakota, left Speaker Johnson’s office telling reporters “momentum’s in the right direction” for House leadership, as the chamber continues to delay the process of voting on the bill.

The South Dakota lawmaker said Trump has been leading efforts to turn members toward yes. In morning meetings at the White House, Johnson said the president addressed various concerns — including proposed Medicaid reforms.

“Concerns about Medicaid were substantially mitigated,” he said.

Key to this was greater explanation of a $50 billion hospital fund, added onto the bill by the Senate.

“That is a new mechanism, so house members, are still getting their arms around it,” Johnson said. – Savannah Kuchar

Norman says Trump answering questions about bill

Rep. Ralph Norman, R-South Carolina, a self-described skeptic about Trump’s legislative package, said the president told him and other lawmakers at the White House things they didn’t about the bill.

“He just wants to answer every question,” Norman said. “That’s what he’s good at.”

Norman was one of two Republicans who voted against a framework for debating the bill in the Rules Committee. The rule called for the full House to vote on the Senate version of the bill without any changes. The House held open a procedural vote for five hours so the talks could continue before a vote on the rule.

“I think we’ll come to some conclusion later this afternoon or in the morning,” Norman added. “I don’t see it coming on the floor if it doesn’t have the votes.” – Bart Jansen

Rep. Thomas Massie still a ‘no’ on the bill

Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie said he is not changing his mind in opposition to the tax bill sought by President Trump.

The GOP lawmaker also sided against the bill when it narrowly passed the House in May and he noted Trump hasn’t reached out to him personally to lobby for a change.

“No. I mean, he reaches out every day on Twitter…reaching out with a million dollars of ads in my district with a picture of me and the Ayatollah so that’s the only sort of reaching out that I’ve seen so far,” Massie said. – Sudiksha Kochi

A ‘lot fewer no votes’ after Trump meeting

South Dakota Republican Rep. Dusty Johnson told reporters his July 2 morning meetings with President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz and other Republican lawmakers at the White House were “really productive.”

“There were some members who came into those meetings with some concerns from the President, and particularly Dr. (Mehmet) Oz did a good job of working through some of the specifics,” Johnson said.

Trump, he said, got a lot of holdouts who had concerns about the bill to say yes.

“There are a lot fewer no votes now than there were before the meeting started at the White House,” he said.

Johnson said they are “closer to a deal.” When asked whether Trump was still adamant on the July 4 deadline, Johnson said, “Donald Trump understands that nothing gets done in this town without a deadline.” – Sudiksha Kochi

Speaker Johnson: ‘We can’t make everyone 100% happy’

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, flanked by Majority Leader Steve Scalise, said leadership is working on resolving ongoing disputes and he feels “positive about the progress.”

Johnson has held meetings in office with disgruntled members throughout the day, including House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris, who upon leaving the speaker’s office said he remains a no.

“We can’t make everyone 100% happy. It’s impossible,” Johnson said.

“All of us have to give up on our personal preferences,” he added. “I’m never going to ask anyone to compromise their core principles, but the preferences must be yielded.”— Savannah Kuchar

House Freedom Caucus Chair still a no

Rep. Andy Harris, R-Maryland, chair of the House Freedom Caucus and a key holdout, exited Speaker Mike Johnson’s office shortly before a series of procedural votes began that are essential before a roll call for final passage can happen.

Asked how many Republican no votes there will be, Harris told reporters, “Hang around for about 30 minutes to find out.” – Savannah Kuchar

House Freedom caucus releases list of complaints about tax bill

The House Freedom caucus has released a list of “failures” inside the Senate’s version of Trump’s tax bill.

The ultraconservative group of House Republicans’ key concern is the more than $650 billion that the Senate’s version would add to the deficit over the House’s version, which passed in late May.

But they’re also concerned about a number of provisions they would like to see tweaked, including carveouts for Alaska and Hawaii from food stamp cuts to deeper cuts to Biden-era clean energy incentives, according to a memo first reported by Punchbowl News.

The group will be key to getting the bill across the finish line. Trump is speaking with holdouts at the White House on July 2. – Riley Beggin

House Democrats unsuccessful preventing cuts to Medicaid, food assistance

More than 100 House Democrats made a parade of futile requests to prevent any changes to Medicaid or food assistance as part of Trump’s legislative package.

The chief of the Congressional Black Caucus, Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-New York, kicked off the series of requests for unanimous consent by asking “to protect against any cuts to Medicaid and SNAP,” the former name of the food assistance program.

But the head of the Rules Committee, Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-North Carolina, refused to yield for the first few requests, which had the effect of killing them. The acting speaker, Rep. Steve Womack, R-Arkansas, then simply rejected each successive request.

“Wow, that gambit was riveting,” Foxx said after the requests were completed.

The House was debating a framework for voting on the Senate’s version of Trump’s bill. The rule called for no changes to the legislation, so that House approval would send the bill to the president for his signature. – Bart Jansen

What time is the House voting on the bill?

House Republicans have again pushed back a procedural vote that will clear the way for a final vote on Trump’s tax package.

The chamber now plans to vote on the rule to consider the bill around 12:15 p.m. EDT. However, several Republicans are at the White House discussing the package with Trump.

Further delays are likely as Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson twist arms to push his members to vote for the package. – Riley Beggin

Trump meets with House GOP at White House to push approval of megabill

President Donald Trump is meeting July 2 with several House Republicans at the White House to discuss passage of his tax and spending bill, a White House official confirmed to USA TODAY.

It was not immediately clear how many House Republicans made the short trip from the Capitol to the White House.

Reporters spotted a handful of lawmakers entering the side of the West Wing including moderate Rep. Mike Lawler, R-New York.

Members of the hardline House Freedom Caucus are also expected to arrive to meet with Trump as the president pushes Republicans to stick together to pass the sweeping bill before his self-imposed Fourth of July deadline. – Joey Garrison

House gavels into session – but it’s slow going

The House has convened to consider President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax policy bill.Lawmakers will have to approve a rule that allows them to consider the package before a final vote. That involves three votes and hours of debate.

Things are off to a slow start as members continue to trickle in from delayed travel to the nation’s capital.Nearly two dozen lawmakers are still missing as they hold open a procedural vote to begin the day’s session. – Riley Beggin

Rep. Chip Roy: Senate bill ‘violated spirit and terms of our House agreement’

Rep. Chip Roy, a Texas Republican and fiscal hawk who voted against advancing the bill in a key House committee, told USA TODAY the Senate version that passed July 1 “violated both the spirit and the terms of our House agreement” in terms of reducing the national debt.

An analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found the Senate bill would add $3.3 trillion to the national debt over the next decade. That’s a nearly one trillion dollar increase from the House version, which would add $2.4 trillion to the debt.

Both House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said they plan on having House lawmakers vote on the Senate bill without amendments on July 2.

However, Roy said, “we need to see changes, and that’s where we are.”

On whether the July 4 deadline is still realistic, Roy said, “It probably depends on today, and whether there’s serious improvements made today on the bill.” – Sudiksha Kochi

What’s President Trump’s schedule today?

President Donald Trump urged House Republicans to not “let the Radical Left Democrats push you around” as he pushed for the quick passage of the Senate version of his massive tax and spending bill.

Trump has no public events scheduled for July 2 on his official presidential schedule, but the president is expected to closely keep tabs on the House proceedings as the lower chambers takes up his so-called “big, beautiful bill.”

With Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote, the Senate on July 1 approved the sweeping legislation by a 51-50 vote, with three Republican defectors.

“Our Country will make a fortune this year, more than any of our competitors, but only if the Big, Beautiful Bill is PASSED!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social that also touted revenue collected by his tariffs on imports. “As they say, Trump’s been right about everything, and this is the easiest of them all to predict”

“Republicans, don’t let the Radical Left Democrats push you around. We’ve got all the cards, and we are going to use them,” he said. – Joey Garrison

House committee advances Trump’s bill without changes

A key House committee advanced President Donald Trump’s tax bill in a late-night marathon session.

Two of the House Rules Committee’s Republicans — Reps. Chip Roy of Texas and Ralph Norman of South Carolina — voted against it, signaling the bruising floor fight to come over the bill’s more than $3.3 trillion price tag.

Members of both parties submitted more than 500 amendments to the bill, but none were adopted. The Senate’s version of the bill is what will head to the floor.

Now, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Trump are getting to work twisting arms as members trickle into Washington. A group of hold-outs, including Norman, are heading to the White House today to discuss the path forward with Trump.

“I’m sure he’s going to be mad,” Norman told NBC News, “but I don’t know what to tell him.” – Riley Beggin

Rules Committee previewed floor debate

The Rules Committee, which sets the framework for how legislation is debated on the House floor, offered a preview July 1 of how the debate will unfold.

Democrats warned about losses to the most vulnerable through cuts to food assistance and Medicaid, while Republicans highlighted tax cuts to help working families by not taxing tips or overtime.

“This couldn’t be a better time or better policies to strengthen working families,” said Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, who heads the Budget Committee.

But Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, the top Democrat on the Budget Committee, said polling found 2-1 margins against the bill.

“This is going to be one of the biggest if not the biggest votes in each and every one of our careers,” Boyle said. “I am proud to be here doing everything I possibly can to say, ‘Hell, no, let’s kill this bill.’” – Bart Jansen

Two GOP members of Freedom Caucus oppose Senate bill

Norman, a member of the Rules Committee, said he would vote against the Senate version of the bill.

“What they did to our bill was unconscionable,” Norman said. “My hope is we go back to the drawing board and get something close to what we passed.”

Harris told Fox News’ “America Reports” that he would oppose the rule so that negotiations would continue with the Senate.

“The bottom line is this is not ready for prime time,” Harris said. “This is not going to sail through the House.”

“We’ll get there eventually but I don’t think it’s going to be in the next couple of days,” Harris said.

– Riley Beggin and Bart Jansen

Musk opposes bill, threatens GOP with primary challengers

Elon Musk, Trump’s former billionaire adviser who spent nearly $300 million last year to help Republicans win the election, blasted the bill and said he would support GOP primary challengers to anyone who supports it.

“Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame!” Musk wrote on social media June 30. “And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.”

Musk is CEO of Tesla, which makes electric vehicles, and SpaceX, which makes rockets. Trump contends Musk opposes the bill because it would end subsidies for electric vehicles and because the president passed over his choice to head NASA.

Trump told reporters July 1 he would consider deporting Musk, a naturalized U.S. citizen from South Africa. “I don’t know. We’ll have to take a look,” Trump said. – Bart Jansen

Contributing: Reuters

Congressional Republicans are publicly projecting that they’re in lockstep with the way President Donald Trump and Elon Musk are attempting to slash the federal workforce.

But under the surface, some GOP lawmakers are growing concerned by the effort to usurp Congress’ control of the federal purse strings. And they’re dealing with a deluge of calls from worried constituents and federal workers who are looking to their elected officials for answers.

Some are taking action, testing the waters for what a new era of pushback in a second Trump term looks like.

GOP Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, who supports the idea of auditing the federal government, has asked the Trump administration to go line by line through US Agency for International Development funding and pushed them to preserve the programs that serve the country’s national security interests.

“Instead of getting rid of everything, let’s look at it selectively,” Bacon said. “Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.”

Even though Bacon supports the idea of shutting down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the latest agency the administration has unilaterally shuttered, he argued that Trump can’t ultimately usurp Congress.

“Congress has to catch up to the plan or the president’s plan has to be revised. Because the law is law,” Bacon said. “We have got to follow the law. If there are things we have to redirect, let’s do it the constitutional way.”

Congressional appropriators see the government funding deadline next month as a key opportunity to advocate for the programs they want to continue to be funded while enforcing the cuts being made by the administration. GOP Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, who chairs the House subcommittee that oversees USAID funding, argued that Congress still has an important role to play.

“We still have the power of the purse, and I zealously protect the power of the purse,” he told CNN.

Listening to federal workers

GOP Rep. Zach Nunn of Iowa, who has heard from several federal workers in his district, has been opening case files and reaching out to the White House and relevant agencies to advocate on their behalf.

“We’ve been very clear that the headache with the federal bureaucracy largely resides within the national capital region,” Nunn said of his conversations with the Trump administration. “Most of the folks that we’ve got in Iowa are frontline workers that are serving people in our community.”

Some Republicans are taking the issue head on by privately sitting down with representatives from the largest federal employee union this week, including GOP Reps. Pete Stauber of Minnesota and Pete Sessions of Texas.

Stauber, a former police officer, told CNN he supports making the government more efficient, but he acknowledged there are bright spots in its workforce.

“You’re not going to see this member demonize federal workers. I was one of them,” he said. “My wife was one of them. I know a lot of good, solid workers. But you can’t tell me that we can’t become more efficient. That’s the goal.”

Sessions is co-leading a caucus that supports Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency effort and broadly supports the cuts being made. But he said his message to federal workers that he’s meeting with on Tuesday will be: “I might have done it differently.”

GOP Rep. Blake Moore of Utah is also trying to connect with federal workers, telling CNN he listened to their concerns during a recent town hall in his district.

Video Ad Feedback Economist Larry Summers sounds the alarm about DOGE 03:21 – Source: CNN Economist Larry Summers sounds the alarm about DOGE 03:21

“We need to do a better job of bringing them in instead of vilifying them,” Moore said of his message to his constituents.

GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a former physician, told CNN he has been communicating with universities in his state about how proposed cuts to the National Institutes of Health could dramatically harm their research abilities.

“I am in active conversations with folks back home. And it’s an issue,” Cassidy said.

Stopping short of explaining next steps, he added: “As a rule, I try to understand issues before I make recommendations.”

Many Republicans are still in the dark on what changes or cuts are occurring and are using back channels to get clarity before taking any action.

“We’re just trying to get answers for people, we’re trying to get answers ourselves,” GOP Rep. Andrew Garbarino told CNN.

Meanwhile, GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine has been more direct in her opposition to various cuts Trump and Musk have tried to make. She publicly criticized the administration’s mandate to freeze federal aid that was ultimately rescinded, and she released a statement Monday advocating against the NIH cuts. Collins said she spoke to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who she says assured her he would “re-examine” the initiative as soon as he is confirmed to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

As lawmakers take individual actions, Republican leadership has remained aligned with the president. House Speaker Mike Johnson sidestepped questions last week about whether Trump can shutter federal agencies without Congress and whether Trump should ignore judges’ orders. And Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the courts will play “the important role” of resolving differences between the co-equal executive and legislative branches instead of weighing in directly.

And most Republicans echo their leadership on Trump and Musk’s efforts, the latest example of how the party has fallen in line behind Trump even when the president’s actions have directly challenged congressional authority.

Elon Musk arrives before the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States takes place inside the Capitol Rotunda of the US Capitol building in Washington, DC, Monday, January 20, 2025. Kenny Holston/The New York Times/Pool/Reuters

“I’m not a lawyer. I’m a pilot,” GOP Rep. Jack Bergman of Michigan said when asked if Trump has the authority to unilaterally shut down agencies. “So, if you want to talk to me about aviation, I’ll talk to you about that. But when it gets into the legal side of things, let’s let the lawyers’ debate that.”

Still, while a substantial concentration of the federal workforce resides in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia, at least 80 percent of federal employees work elsewhere in the country, according to the Office of Personnel Management.

That means the letters to federal employees urging them to resign now and be paid through September, and the Trump administration’s freezing of federal funds or restructuring of government agencies, have palpable impacts beyond just the beltway.

“If this was a Democratic administration with the same things happening, people would be lit up about it,” one GOP lawmaker told CNN. “So, I think we have to be careful about the precedent that they’re setting.”

How Republicans rationalize DOGE

The president campaigned on cutting the size of the federal government, and Republicans say the actions being taken now are simply carrying out his campaign promises.

GOP Rep. Jen Kiggans, who has over 30,000 civilian federal workers in her Virginia district, told CNN that she hasn’t seen the deferred resignation offers but is urging her constituents to be patient.

“I think everybody needs to take a deep breath. I know there’s a lot of change right now. This is the change that Americans voted for in November. So, we’re in a time of transition and if people are having specific questions, please reach out to us,” Kiggans said.

GOP Rep. Darrell Issa, who has nearly 15,000 civilian federal workers in his district in California, told CNN his constituents want Republicans to take on the $35 trillion debt.

“They want us to deal with it, and we’re doing so and the president’s leading,” Issa said. “My federal workers are also taxpayers, and even if they may want to preserve their job, they’ll be the first to tell me that they’re tired of going to a post office with surly attitudes, bad delivery and nothing to show for it.”

One federal workers union representative told CNN they are pushing Republican lawmakers to act behind the scenes: “We want them to step out for us, but we know the situation they are in with President Trump. I do think they will work behind the scenes with us and convince Speaker Johnson not to do certain things.”

Ruark Hotopp, national vice president for the American Federation of Government Employees, has directed his unionized federal workers to contact every congressional office in the Midwest region he represents. Hotopp, who has organized his members to meet with various lawmakers this week, explained that the Republican offices they have been calling are sympathetic until a certain point.

“Our question back to them is – what are you going to do about it? And right now, the answer is seemingly nothing,” Hotopp said.

CNN’s Morgan Rimmer and Haley Talbot contributed to this report.