House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) vowed that House Republicans will not squander their slim majority, expressing optimism they will advance President Donald Trump’s agenda. He urged his fellow lawmakers to unify and advance the president’s “one big, beautiful bill” as soon as possible.
Members of the House Budget Committee are reconvening on Sunday night after sinking the reconciliation bill on Friday, in which several House Republicans expressed frustration with the legislation’s ambiguity on raising the state and local tax caps. Johnson, who has pushed to have the reconciliation bill passed by Memorial Day, stated that he plans for this bill to proceed to the House Rules Committee by mid-week before going to the House floor at the end of the week.
“This is the vehicle through which we will deliver on the mandate that the American people gave us in the last election,” Johnson explained on Fox News Sunday with Shannon Bream. “You’re going to have historic savings for the American people, historic tax relief for American workers, historic investments in border security at the same time that we’re restoring American energy dominance, and we’re rebuilding the defense industrial base. And we’re ensuring that programs like Medicaid and SNAP are strengthened for the U.S. Citizens who need and deserve them, and not being squandered away by illegal aliens and persons who are ineligible to receive them and are cheating the system.”
Johnson also addressed some House members’ concerns over work requirements in Medicaid. However, he explained that the House is working to ensure that individual states can enforce the new safeguards being implemented.
He added that some states need “some time” to change their systems to eliminate waste and fraud. As such, this is an issue where “compromise” may be necessary to advance.
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Regarding the Senate, Johnson said he is coordinating “carefully” with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and expressed hope that the Senate will not make many modifications. He also was confident that the bill would make it to Trump’s desk by Independence Day.
Amid division among House Republicans, former Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy suggested that the bill could get passed now that Trump is back in Washington D.C. following a week in the Middle East. McCarthy took a dig at Johnson, suggesting that Trump has dual duties of being both president and House speaker.