House GOP pleads for time after "intense" White House meeting
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House GOP leaders told White House officials Thursday they need another 24 hours on reconciliation, pleading for the Senate to let them figure it out.
Why it matters: After a four-plus-hour meeting in the White House, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) returned to the Capitol and said they were "close" to an agreement.
- "I think probably by tonight we wrap it," he said.
Vice President Vance was in the room for the first part of the meeting, while President Trump was in and out after it became clear the meeting would be a marathon.
- They wrapped in the Oval Office, where the president gave the lawmakers pens and coins.
- Trump told the Republicans to "figure out" how to make his 2017 tax cuts permanent.
Zoom in: Johnson's optimism was publicly shared by other leaders who attended the meeting, including House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Budget Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas).
- "Today was big," Arrington told reporters Thursday.
- "It was pretty intense. The heat was on medium the whole time," House GOP Conference Chair Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) told us.
Reality check: Lawmakers didn't share any details of the kind of progress they made.
- It's unclear if they made any headway on the yawning gap in how much spending they should cut, which ranges from $500 billion to $2 trillion.
Driving the news: In addition to his campaign promises, like "no taxes on tips," Trump dug up some provisions he didn't dwell on during the campaign, like ending tax breaks for sports teams and treating so-called "carried interest" as regular income, as Axios scooped Thursday.
- The private equity industry responded quickly. "President Trump's historic [2017] law struck the right balance on carried interest and encouraged local investment, innovation and economic growth," said Drew Maloney, president and CEO of the American Investment Council.
Zoom out: Since Monday, House lawmakers have been acutely aware they have until Friday night to convince Trump their one-bill approach can carry his legislative priorities. That's when the Senate GOP will be dining at Mar-a-Lago.
- Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) upped the pressure Wednesday by telling his colleagues that he'd move his budget reconciliation package next week.
The intrigue: Johnson and Arrington had different responses to the Senate's implicit threat.
- "Our message to our friends and colleagues in the Senate is, allow the House to do its work," Johnson told reporters.
- "We know that they're ready to go at any time," Arrington said. "That's a healthy push for the process on our end."
