Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' passes House Budget Committee vote

ABC News

(WASHINGTON) -- The House Budget Committee voted late Sunday night to advance President Donald Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" after several GOP hard-liners blocked the measure from moving forward Friday.

The vote passed down party lines 17-16, with four Republicans voting present.

Conservative Reps. Chip Roy, Andrew Clyde, Josh Brecheen and Ralph Norman all voted present -- a change from their no votes on Friday.

Next, the Rules Committee will hold its meeting midweek, teeing up a vote on the floor by the end of the week.

On Monday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump implores all Republicans to unite behind the bill.

"It's absolutely essential that Republicans unite behind the 'Big, Beautiful Bill' and deliver on Trump's agenda," Leavitt said.

Leavitt addressed a concern some of Republican holdouts expressed about it adding to the bloated national deficit, saying flatly that "this bill will not add to the deficit."

She said Trump was in constant communication with Speaker Mike Johnson over the weekend and that the president is "willing to pick up the phone" to encourage Republicans to fall in line on the bill.

Trump had already pushed Republicans to support the legislation in a social media post, yet several Budget Committee hard-liners on Friday voted to block the package from moving forward -- partly over concerns with a starting date for Medicaid work requirements -- defying the president and Johnson. As the legislation is currently written, Medicaid requirements take effect in 2029. However, conservatives are pushing for the requirements to start much earlier, as soon as 2027.

Before the Sunday vote in the House Budget Committee, Johnson said talks had "gone great." Sources told ABC News ahead of the vote that lawmakers had not yet reached a deal on several sticking points related to SALT and Medicaid reform.

Key components of the bill look to provide major tax breaks by cutting spending elsewhere, including hundreds of billions in cuts to Medicaid.

The House Freedom Caucus released a statement after the vote, saying, that the bill "does not yet meet the moment."

"As written, the bill continues increased deficits in the near term with possible savings years down the road that may never materialize," the caucus said in a post on X.

What about the Senate?

Johnson said both chambers have been working in "close coordination" and said he hopes the Senate won't alter the House bill.

"The package that we send over there will be one that was very carefully negotiated and delicately balanced, and we hope that they [Senate] don't make many modifications to it, because that will ensure its passage quickly," he said.

Johnson added that Congress must pass the package by July 4, especially given the mid-July "deadline" to address the debt limit to avoid a default.

"We've got to get this done and get it to the president's desk by that big celebration on Independence Day. And I'm convinced that we can," he added.

ABC News' Sarah Beth Hensley contribute to this report.

Monday, May 19, 2025 at 10:03AM by Lauren Peller, John Parkinson, and Arthur Jones II, ABC News Permalink