A vote on the Megabill destined to advance in the agenda of President Donald Trump failed in the Chamber Budget Committee on Friday afternoon in the middle of the objections of hard funds, arresting the progress of the bill in the committee.
Republican representatives Andrew Clyde, Josh Brecheen, Lloyd Smucker, Ralph Norman and Chip Roy voted against eliminating the committee bill, challenging Trump and President Mike Johnson. The group complained, in part, that most of the savings in the legislation do not enter into force until Trump leaves the position.
The vote of the committee failed with only 16 legislators in favor and 21 voting against.
The measure is a setback for Johnson and Trump, who previously asked the holdouts to align and join behind the bill, and Trump said in a publication on social networks that “we do not need ‘abenes’ in the Republican party.”
Norman said he wants leadership commitments in changes in Medicaid’s work requirements, which will not enter into force until 2029 and impose more frequent eligibility controls for beneficiaries.
“I’m tired of smoke and mirrors,” Norman said on Friday. “This is not a tribune. I don’t need the tribune.”
The president of the representative Jodey Arrington, speaks with the representative Ralph Norman during the marking of the Budget Committee of the Chamber of Representatives of the Reconciliation Law Project, May 16, 2025.
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The terrible experience has been another test of Johnson’s accommodation while working to placate the hard lines and unify the factions of his conference.
Republican leaders of the House of Representatives will now continue to negotiate with Holdouts behind closed doors, and the Budget Committee will meet again on Sunday night at 10 pm, while the delay is not ideal, there is still the possibility that the bill can clear the camera before the recess of the Fallen Day.
President Mike Johnson talks to journalists when he leaves the house of the house at the United States Capitol, on May 15, 2025 in Washington.
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The Caucus of the house of the house said it is prepared to continue the negotiations during the weekend after several of them blocked the progress of more than 1,000 pages to advance.
“We are not going anywhere and we will continue working during the weekend,” the Group posted in X.
He asked about the ABC News Capitol Hill correspondent, Jay O’Brien, if he worried that five Republicans voted against the measure of taxes and budgets despite the fact that Trump ordered them to join, Republican representative Lloyd Smucker said it was “part of the process.”
“I mean, this happens in multiple bills. The last cycle happened to the Democrats, it took time to make his agenda,” said Smucker. “We are a diverse conference and with a very tight margin, so it takes time to work on this, and it was a very aggressive timeline that the speaker had presented, and I think we will still see each other.”
Before the failed vote, the leader of the majority, Steve Scalise, explained that the timeline of the bill allows the administration to “really believe a process to implement” some of the provisions in the bill.
“We have a fairly clear idea of what are the final pieces, and we are working at this time,” said Scalise. “We all agree on the reforms we want to do. We want to have work requirements. We want to eliminate many of these green subsidies. How fast can it do it? And it’s not as fast as saying that it turns it off tomorrow.”
The leader of the majority of the House of Representatives, Steve Scalise, speaks at a press conference with other members of the republican leadership of the Chamber in Washington, on May 14, 2025.
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The representative Marlin Stutzman, another Republican in the Budget Committee, sympathized with Norman’s “fair” concerns about the delays in the implementation of Medicaid reforms, but described the consensus product of 11 frames “a good start” and emphasized that the Senate will have the opportunity to improve the bill.
“There are many good pieces in this legislation. You know, there are pieces that I feel that we leave short. We could have made larger reforms, reduce more expenses, but at the end of the day, this will grow the economy for the US people,” he said. “I think we are going to get there.”
“I think this is an important piece to move forward as it is, because we need the economy to return to normal,” Stutzman added.
