Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said he was pressing forward with a vote Thursday morning on the party's “one big, beautiful bill” full of President Trump’s legislative agenda, holding a joint appearance with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) in a bid to convince conservative holdouts the two chambers were on the same page regarding spending cuts.
During the brief remarks, Johnson asserted he had the votes, committing to including at least $1.5 trillion in spending cuts in the party’s ultimate Trump agenda bill — a key ask of lawmakers on the right flank. But Thune notably stopped short of making a similarly strong assurance, a fact that could spark concerns among hard-line conservatives.
“Our ambition in the Senate is, we are aligned with the House in terms of what their budget resolution outlined in terms of savings,” Thune said, alongside Johnson. “The Speaker talked about $1.5 trillion — we have a lot of United States senators who believe that is a minimum, and we’re certainly going to do everything we can to be as aggressive as possible.”
But it remains unclear if the public statements will be enough to assuage the conservatives to back the budget resolution. The comments came less than 24 hours after Johnson was forced to yank a planned vote on the framework as hard-line House conservatives dug in on their opposition to the legislation.
Johnson sounded a note of confidence Thursday morning.
“I'm happy to tell you that this morning, I believe we had the votes to finally adopt the budget resolution,” Johnson said in the press conference.
Members of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus emerged from a meeting later in the morning sounding a cautious, but optimistic note.
“The first time publicly the Senate leader has come out and actually said that we’re in the same ballpark with the House and Senate reductions. Obviously we were happy with the House spending reduction because we all voted for it, so I think that’s a step in a positive direction,” Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) said.
Asked about Thune stopping short of making promises, Harris responded, “I think he came as close as one would expect anyone to come and, again, placing it right in the same ballpark as what the House has talked about.”
But when asked if this could be adopted in the House on Thursday, Harris said, “We’re not quite there yet”.
“The levels of communication right now … I'm telling you, this level of conversation has never happened before, and that in and of itself is historic and encouraging," Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.), another Freedom Caucus member, said.
And Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), one of the most vocal opponents of the measure, said, "I think we got it."
Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), however, who left the meeting and headed to a meeting in the Speaker's suite, signaled disappointment in Thune's remarks: "I wish they were better."
Those on the right flank were incensed that the budget resolution included a lower spending cut minimum for Senate committees compared to House panels — concerned that the upper chamber would reign supreme. The Senate was ordered to find at least $4 billion in cuts, much less than the $1.5 trillion of federal spending the House is mandated to slash.
The House hard-liners refused to back the legislation even after Trump lobbied hard for Republicans to adopt the framework. The president re-upped that pressure Thursday morning, writing on Truth Social, “Great News! ‘The Big, Beautiful Bill’ is coming along really well. Republicans are working together nicely. Biggest Tax Cuts in USA History!!! Getting close. DJT.”
On Wednesday, a group of the House hard-liners met with Thune in his office and pressed for details on the amount of spending cuts they would include in the final package.
But some were also pushing leaders to add an amendment to the resolution that said if at least $1.5 trillion in cuts were not included in the final package — a path that could prompt a number of problems.
First, moderate House Republicans would likely balk at that prospect after raising concerns about potential cuts to Medicaid. One moderate GOP lawmaker told The Hill on Wednesday that “some mods have already been reaching out to leadership to let them know this is a no go.”
Secondly, the Senate would have to reapprove the budget resolution with the amendment, which would require another all-night vote-a-rama.
Another option was bringing House and Senate Republicans to a conference committee, where they could formally hash out their differences. But there was little appetite for that avenue among top lawmakers in both chambers.
Mike Lillis contributed.