July 2, 2025 - House to take up Senate version of Trump’s megabill

Our live coverage of President Donald Trump’s sweeping domestic policy bill has ended for the day. Follow the latest updates or read through the posts below.

Thomas Massie leaves a House Republican caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol on June 04, 2025.

Another Republican lawmaker — Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky — has voted “no” against a key procedural vote to advance President Donald Trump’s agenda bill with the vote still underway and not over yet. The vote remains open as Speaker Mike Johnson has voted to keep it open “as long as it takes” and GOP leaders work to try to flip holdouts.

There are currently five “no” votes on the board and eight GOP lawmakers who have not yet voted.

Massie, a fiscal hawk with an independent streak, has gone to war with Trump after opposing the House’s initial version of the president’s agenda earlier this summer. He has been firm he will oppose the final bill.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson walks to the chamber, at the Capitol in Washington on Wednesday.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said he will keep a key procedural vote on Trump’s agenda bill open for “as long as it takes” while he and his team seek votes.

CNN has reported that Johnson and his leadership team are currently whipping members to back the key procedural vote in a furious last-minute scramble as voting is underway.

Johnson said that he spoke with President Donald Trump within the last hour, and the president asked what other members need to have a discussion.

A major vote in the House on Trump’s agenda bill is ongoing, but Speaker Mike Johnson will need to flip at least one of the five Republican holdouts to get through this procedural step. All have voted “no” so far, but they can still change their minds.

Here’s who they are:

Johnson has more problems than just these five no votes, though. There are also currently eight Republicans who have yet to vote on the measure — a signal that they, too, are willing to defy leadership as they seek changes to the bill.

House Speaker Mike Johnson and his leadership team are doing it in real time — again.

Johnson and his leadership team are currently whipping members to back a key procedural vote on Trump’s bill in a furious last-minute scramble as the vote is underway.

About 45 minutes into the vote, Johnson still has four members voting against bringing Trump’s bill to the floor — enough to sink the procedural vote and prevent a vote on final passage. That many “no” votes is also enough to tank the bill: He can afford to lose three.

The no votes are: Reps. Andrew Clyde, Keith Self, Victoria Spartz and Brian Fitzpatrick — the latter a surprise to some in GOP leadership.

Johnson has been spotted on the floor talking to Clyde — who is one of the current four no votes — and Rep. David Valadao, a centrist who has not yet voted, and Rep. Greg Murphy, who has concerns about Medicaid cuts in his home state of North Carolina. There are roughly 10 members that have not yet voted.

Leadership plans to keep the vote open as long as it takes as part of a pressure campaign to convince GOP holdouts to fold and allow the House to move onto Trump’s bill. GOP leaders believe they can call hardliners’ bluff after marathon talks during an earlier seven-hour procedural vote, though some of those same members have declared they are dug in and want more time to try to change the Senate’s version of Trump’s bill.

If GOP leadership is able to flip the holdouts and the procedural vote succeeds, the House would move onto final passage as quickly as possible, likely within about two hours, following debate on the bill.

Rep. Ralph Norman speaks to members of the media at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Wednesday.

Rep. Ralph Norman, a conservative who has previously said he was opposed to the Senate-passed version of President Donald Trump’s sweeping domestic policy bill, now says he will back the bill in the procedural vote and final passage, after receiving assurances from Trump that his concerns will be addressed.

Norman said that the president had given conservative holdouts assurances that the green energy tax credits, as well as other conservative priorities, would be “dealt with” — though Norman refused to say if that would happen by executive order or by future legislative action — during their meeting at the White House earlier today.

Some Republicans have been vocal in their opposition to the Senate’s slower timeline to phase out some energy tax credits, and Norman said it was important for them to get assurances on that from the White House.

“We got clarification on what’s going to be enforced. We got clarification on how the IRAs were going to be dealt with. We got clarification on the tax cuts — and still we’ll be meeting tomorrow on the specifics of it. But no, I feel comfortable with this,” Norman said.

Pressed on how they can trust leadership will continue to take them seriously, if they still fold, Norman said, “We get the best we can get, and we go as far as we can go to get for the American people, what we need. That’s not bluffing. The reason we have credibility, they know we’ll vote no.”

He added, “Now look, this is a game of — and it is a game — of getting the most you can for your consistency. And we’re doing that, I’ll do that. As long as I’m up here, I’ll do that.”

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson walks behind his security detail through a crowd of reporters on Wednesday.

House Speaker Mike Johnson insisted “we’re in a good place,” as House Republican leadership moved ahead with a key procedural vote on President Donald Trump’s megabill.

“We’re in a good place right now. This is the legislative process, this is exactly how I think the framers intended for it to work. We feel very good about where we are and we’re moving forward.”

He insisted: “We’re going to deliver the big, beautiful bill, the president’s America first agenda, and we’re going to do right by the American people. This is going to be a great thing for the country, look forward to moving forward.”

The House is now voting on the rule governing President Donald Trump’s agenda bill.

Voting to adopt the rule would move the bill closer to final passage. If the bill clears this key procedural hurdle, House members would next move to debate on the bill and then to a final vote to send it to the president’s desk for his signature.

After seven hours of stalemate, Speaker Mike Johnson is pressing ahead with a vote to advance President Donald Trump’s agenda that his own conservative members are warning him not to hold.

The House is expected to proceed momentarily to a key procedural vote that would allow Trump’s domestic policy bill to come to the floor.

This comes after a full day of frenzied negotiations between Trump and dozens of key holdouts on the bill.

The procedural vote — known as the vote on the rule — is the final procedural hurdle that must be cleared before the House can begin debate and then later hold a final passage vote on the bill. It is still unclear exactly when the House will hold that final vote.

Members of the House Freedom Caucus have repeatedly signaled they will block Trump’s agenda on the floor — voting against this forthcoming procedural vote, known as the rule. But Johnson and his leadership team are ready to call their bluff and force them to actually defy Trump on the floor.

White House officials have told House Republicans they want a vote tonight — which Trump himself backed up in a post on Truth Social.

Rep. Tim Burchett appears on CNN on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump, meeting House Republicans at the White House today, appeared to adhere to an old adage as he worked to convince lawmakers to vote for his mega-bill: You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

When discussing the bill, the president spoke in political terms, urging the lawmakers to maintain GOP unity and avoid giving Democrats a victory by denying him his signature legislation, one person familiar with the meetings said.

And while Trump’s threat of backing primary challenges to opponents of his bill remains ever-present in many Republicans’ minds, the president opted to leave the warning mostly unsaid as he cajoled members in the West Wing today.

One person familiar with the meetings said Trump spoke about the importance of the bill to Republicans’ agenda, and argued that economic growth would eclipse any concerns about expanding the deficit — arguments he and his team have been making publicly.

Trump’s advisers, including budget director Russell Vought, also answered questions in more detail from lawmakers.

The threat of political retribution for Republicans voting no hasn’t disappeared. Trump said earlier this week that GOP members bucking him could face consequences, and his harsh treatment on social media of Sen. Thom Tillis — who voted no on a procedural measure and later announced he will retire when his term ends — was intended as something of a cautionary tale.

But at least today, a softer touch appears to have worked, at least on some members.

Rep. Ralph Norman speaks to members of the media on Wednesday.

Conservatives who earlier opposed to President Donald Trump’s domestic policy bill are warming to the Senate version as they seek to get assurances from the Trump administration on how the bill will be implemented.

Rep. Ralph Norman, a conservative from South Carolina, told CNN that he was beginning to worry that sending a new bill to the Senate might mean it comes back even worse than before as he pointed to Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who he argued might try to get even more for her state.

Norman said House Freedom Caucus members are talking to administration officials from OMB director Russ Vought to CMS and the president’s legislative affairs team.

Asked if they got any assurances, Norman said the caucus is happy about the legal assurances they have received. “Now the specifics of how a lot of this happens, we’ve gotta find out, but I think we will. Over the next four hours, we’ll know more.”

Asked if he was still a no, he said, “My only posture now is find out more information, get it answered, see how it can be implemented. In other words, the fine print.”

Reps. Warren Davidson gives an interview at the US Capitol on May 21.

Rep. Warren Davidson, a conservative who voted in May against President Donald Trump’s agenda, now says he will back the new bill.

The decision comes as leadership is still scrambling for the votes they need to pass the Senate’s latest version of the legislation ahead of Trump’s Friday deadline.

“Before the debt limit hits … we need to get something across the finish line, and I don’t think there is a likelihood we could deliver a better product by that date and that is part of my decision,” he said.

Davidson did say he spoke to the president throughout the process and “no one puts a deal together like President Trump.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slams the Trump-backed proposed budget bill as a “tax break” for billionaires in a speech on the House floor.

You can also watch this video on YouTube Shorts.

A top official at the Treasury Department blamed a weaker-than-expected economic report on tax policy uncertainty, which he said could be cleared if Congress passes President Donald Trump’s sweeping domestic policy bill.

The US private sector lost 33,000 jobs in June — the first decline in payrolls since 2023, according to payroll firm ADP.

Joseph Lavorgna, counselor to the Treasury secretary, told CNN in a phone interview that ADP “isn’t particularly good” at forecasting the official jobs report, echoing other economists. The jobs report is set to be released tomorrow by the Labor Department.

Still, Lavorgna conceded that the jobs market has cooled, a trend he blamed on uncertainty linked to the speed and timing of tax policy.

Lavorgna expressed hope that Congress will approve Trump’s agenda bill in the coming days, leading to “much stronger” economic growth in the second half of the year.

“You’re going to get a big pipeline of activity coming through,” he said.

Lavorgna downplayed trade policy uncertainty and predicted a flurry of trade agreements following the one announced by Trump on today with Vietnam.

“This could be like a traffic jam: Once you get through, everything flows. I think a lot of deals could get done quickly,” he said.

House Republicans are stalling for time on the floor as President Donald Trump and his team furiously work to get a group of right-wing holdouts in line behind his agenda bill.

A large number of GOP hardliners have threatened to block Trump’s agenda from coming to the floor on a forthcoming procedural vote — which would be a major embarrassment to the president. But there could soon be some momentum. Some of those members said they had a productive meeting at the White House that has put them closer to a yes, though they are still ironing out details.

The White House has informed House GOP leaders that Trump got the hardliner holdouts to a better place, according to a person familiar with the discussions.

Republicans have held open the current procedural vote for nearly an hour. If it passes, the House will move onto the critical vote that would allow Trump’s agenda to come to the floor. If that succeeds, they will move onto the final passage vote later in the day.

As negotiations behind the scenes continue to drag out, GOP Rep. Barry Loudermilk of Georgia told CNN that House GOP leadership informed members they don’t need to wait on the floor.

Rep. Don Bacon arrives for a House Republican conference meeting at the U.S. Capitol on May 6, in Washington, DC.

Republican Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon, who recently announced he will not seek reelection, told CNN he will vote to support the Senate’s version of President Donald Trump’s domestic policy bill — even though he conceded cuts to Medicaid will hurt Republicans in the midterms.

Although Bacon said he would have preferred sending the bill back to the Senate for more changes, he said that “at some point, you know you got to weigh the pros versus cons” and he is supporting the bill because of the tax cuts and the money for defense spending.

Yet, Bacon said the Senate’s cuts to Medicaid will create difficulties for his colleagues seeking reelection, who will have to answer to attacks from Democrats.

“The other side is going to use Medicaid as an issue. And I think the Senate rule gives them a little more leverage to do so,” Bacon said.

Bacon said his retirement decision didn’t weigh on his decision to support the legislation.

Rep. Tim Burchett speaks to members of the media on Wednesday.

Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett, a key GOP holdout, told CNN he is moving closer to voting yes on President Donald Trump’s domestic agenda bill after meeting with the president at the White House earlier in the day.

Burchett, whose meeting at the White House lasted for two hours, said the members who were in his meeting at the White House wanted to meet together again to discuss before a final vote.

South Dakota Rep. Dusty Johnson, who also earlier met with Trump, told reporters he believes the president will be “the closer” on the bill.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson talks with reporters before heading to the House chamber for a procedural vote on Tuesday.

House Speaker Mike Johnson touted the “very positive” progress made toward passing President Donald Trump’s domestic policy bill, but he acknowledged not all House Republicans are going to be happy with the final package.

“When you have a piece of legislation that is this comprehensive and with so many agenda items involved, you’re going to have lots of different priorities and preferences among people because they represent different districts and they have different interests,” he said.

It remains unclear if Johnson has the GOP support needed to pass the bill as the House prepares to take a key procedural vote to get the bill closer to final passage.

He said he’s been speaking to conservative hardliners and swing-district Republicans about their concerns.

“We’ve had lots of great conversations. I’ve met with individuals and groups all day long, as has the president — who’s fully engaged as well — trying to convince everybody this is the very best product that we can produce,” he said. “There’s more conversations to be held.”

Members of the House of Representatives on July 2 in Washington, DC.

The House is now voting in a series that will end with the high-stakes vote on the rule.

The first two votes are procedural votes. The third vote is the one to watch: That final vote is on the rule governing President Donald Trump’s agenda bill.

This process could take time to play out, given that GOP leaders are still scrambling to shore up support for the rule vote.

Voting to approve the rule will move the bill closer to final passage.