Johnson faces new GOP revolt on Trump's "big, beautiful bill"
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House Speaker Mike Johnson takes the stage to speak during a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony on Capitol Hill on June 26. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is facing an explosion of internal anger among his members over the Senate's changes to President Trump's "big, beautiful bill."
Why it matters: The speaker has just days to pass the bill before Republicans' self-imposed July 4 deadline — which will require flipping dozens of "no" votes and overcoming numerous procedural hurdles.
- "We knew the Senate would amend the House product. I encouraged them to amend it as lightly as possible. They went a little further than many of us would have preferred," Johnson told reporters on Tuesday.
What they're saying: "Our bill has been completely changed. ... It's a non-starter," Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) bemoaned to reporters on Tuesday.
- Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) said in a post on social media that he will introduce an amendment to the Senate bill that would delete all its text and replace it with the version passed by the House in May.
- One House Republican, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Axios there are "well over 20" GOP lawmakers threatening to vote against the bill.
State of play: The Senate voted 51-50 to pass their version of the bill on Tuesday, with Vice President Vance serving as the tiebreaker.
- The bill would extend the 2017 Trump tax cuts and allocate funding for the president's immigration crackdown while cutting spending on Medicaid, food stamps and green energy subsidies.
Zoom in: Right-wing House Republicans are upset that the Senate bill is projected to add more to the deficit than the House version would.
- "They're backing away from the spending cuts, the spending restraint. They're backing away from the reforms that we think makes the math work," Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said in a post on X.
- Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) noted that Johnson previously committed not to hold a vote on a bill that increases the deficit over a certain threshold, adding that "members will have a decision to make."
Between the lines: Johnson told conservative lawmakers earlier this year that they could try to remove him as speaker if he couldn't deliver $1.5 trillion in spending cuts in the final package.
- "I've never lied to any of my colleagues, and I was trying to emphasize the point," Johnson told Axios in an April interview.
The bottom line: Johnson vowed in a statement after the Senate vote that the House will "work quickly" to pass the legislation and get it to Trump's desk by July 4.
- "Republicans were elected to do exactly what this bill achieves: secure the border, make tax cuts permanent, unleash American energy dominance, restore peace through strength, cut wasteful spending, and return to a government that puts Americans first," he said.
