(WASHINGTON) -- House Republicans are plowing ahead with a vote on the Senate-approved GOP budget blueprint on Wednesday despite opposition from rank-and-file lawmakers.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., with the help of President Donald Trump, will need to work to persuade nearly a dozen GOP holdouts to advance the legislation.
GOP leaders don't have the votes right now. The speaker can only afford to lose three defections if all members are voting and present, and several GOP hard-liners from the House Freedom Caucus are likely to vote against the bill due to what they have said are concerns about how the plan would reduce the deficit.
However, Johnson said he believes Republicans will come together and vote in favor of the GOP budget blueprint.
"I think it's going to pass today," Johnson said.
"The president's willing to help, and he's told me that this morning. But I think we get this job done," he said, noting that he is sympathetic to the holdouts' concerns in the Senate-approved measure.
"We have one very important mission, and that is to deliver the one big, beautiful bill that is going to get this economy going again and solve these other problems," he concluded.
If Johnson can pull off passing the legislation through the House in the face of likely drama on the House floor, he will deliver Trump a major win.
Trump posted Wednesday morning on his social media platform Truth Social that "it is more important now, than ever, that we pass THE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL. The USA will Soar like never before!!!"
The House narrowly passed a "rule," a procedure to advance legislation, on Wednesday afternoon, which included the budget blueprint, by a vote of 216-215.
Three Republicans voted against the rule, including Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., and Mike Turner, R-Ohio.
Johnson engaged in a heated conversation on the floor with House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., one of the holdouts, and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., was huddling with the holdouts at one point as well.
Despite opposition, GOP leaders are moving ahead with a full floor vote on the budget blueprint at about 5:30 p.m., which requires a simple majority.
The rule vote also included language to block future House votes on rescinding Trump's tariffs.
Trump met with Johnson and several GOP hard-liners who had said they have concerns about the bill Tuesday afternoon in the Oval Office, though Reps. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., and Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., two likely no votes, said they were not invited.
Trump posted afterward that it was "a very good meeting."
"I let them know that, I AM FOR MAJOR SPENDING CUTS! WE ARE GOING TO DO REDUCTIONS, hopefully in excess of $1 Trillion Dollars, all of which will go into 'The One, Big, Beautiful Bill,'" he posted Tuesday night. "I, along with House Members and Senators, will be pushing very hard to get these large scale Spending Cuts done, but we must get the Bill approved NOW."
Johnson, too, said he believed the meeting went well and that the president convinced the Republican holdouts to support the bill.
"A great meeting. The President was very helpful and engaged," he said. "We have a lot of members' whose questions were answered. We are making great progress right now."
However, Reps. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said Tuesday that he still had concerns with the budget blueprint and would likely vote against the bill, telling reporters that the resolution has "enough" GOP objections to tank it.
"I'm not here for aspirations," he posted on X. "The Senate's bill does not add up - it's all tax cuts with no spending cuts which = deficits."
Trump made a final pitch to House Republicans while speaking at the National Republican Congressional Committee's black-tie dinner Tuesday night.
"Just in case there are a couple of Republicans out there, you just got to get there," Trump said. "Close your eyes and get there. It's a phenomenal bill. Stop grandstanding. Just stop grandstanding."