(NewsNation) — President Donald Trump visited Capitol Hill on Tuesday to try and jolt his “big, beautiful bill” past the finish line with a clear message for Republicans to fall in line.
Trump paid a visit to the House Republican Conference Meeting in hopes of unifying lawmakers behind his more than 1,100-page proposal.
A senior White House official told NewsNation that Trump urged all holdout factions in the conference, including the SALT Caucus and the House Freedom Caucus, to support the bill.
He said that every Republican should vote yes and warned members not to “f— around with Medicaid,” The Hill reported.
The official said Trump’s main requests were:
- Don’t let SALT impede this bill. Republicans can fight for SALT later on.
- Don’t touch Medicaid except for eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse, including booting off illegal immigrants and common sense work requirements.
- Stick together and get the bill done to deliver for the American people.
The bill would extend tax cuts, beef up border security, raise defense spending and increase the state and local tax deduction cap from $10,000 to $30,000 for single and joint filers.
It would also cut funding for Medicaid, food stamps and green energy programs.
“I think we have unbelievable unity. I think we’re going to have a great victory. I think this was a great session,” Trump told reporters Tuesday after the meeting.
He called the Tuesday visit a “meeting of love,” and added that he was “not losing patience,” despite a senior White House source telling NewsNation his frustration was clear.
Prior to the meeting, Trump said his legislation would not cut “anything meaningful” and that his bill focuses on “cutting waste, fraud and abuse.”
“This is bigger than any Ronald Reagan tax cut. It’s even bigger than the tax cut that I gave you,” he said, adding that the bill is the “biggest tax cut in the history of our country.”
President Trump’s tax policies would add roughly $3.8 trillion to the national debt, per an an analysis from by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
Debate over Trump’s tax cut bill
Trump is looking to unify his party behind his domestic agenda, but parts of the bill have faced intense debate in the House.
Some Republican lawmakers, such as Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, have concerns about the budget. They worry that tax cuts and new spending are front-loaded in the bill, while measures to offset costs are backloaded.
Roy has also said more needs to be removed from programs related to the Green New Deal, while more centrist Republicans have shared concerns over cuts to Medicaid and food assistance programs.
Democrats have sought to unite against the bill and criticized Trump’s budget and its unusual late-night advancement through the House Budget Committee on Sunday.
“They literally are trying to take health care away from millions of Americans at this very moment in the dead of night,” said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
The bill’s next stop is the House Rules Committee, which is scheduled to examine the proposal and make last-minute changes later this week.
Republicans will need just about every vote they can get to pass this cornerstone piece of Trump’s agenda.
NewsNation partner The Hill contributed to this report.