Trump visits Capitol to urge House Republicans to pass ‘big, beautiful bill’

Donald Trump met with Republican lawmakers in Congress’s lower chamber. The president pushed representatives from districts in blue states to drop their demands for a bigger State and Local Tax (Salt) deduction. He also sought to assuage moderates concerned that the legislation, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, would hobble the Medicaid health insurance program. It is unclear if the president’s exhortations had the intended effect ahead of the Monday deadline that House speaker Mike Johnson has set to get the bill passed through the chamber, which Republicans control by a mere three votes. At least one key lawmaker said he remained opposed to the bill as written, while others announced no changes to their position. After the meeting, Don Bacon, a Nebraska moderate who had warned against cutting Medicaid too deeply, signaled approval of the bill, saying: “We did as well as we could do,” but David Valadao, whose central California district has one of the large shares of Medicaid recipients nationwide, said he was “very concerned” about the impact of the cuts.

Source: Theguardian.com  |  Read full article