US President Donald Trump rallied Republicans on Capitol Hill Tuesday to back a so-called “big, beautiful bill” that is likely to increase the yawning budget deficit and cut health care for millions of Americans.
Sharp divisions in the party have slowed the progress through Congress of Trump’s budget bill, which pairs an extension of the billionaire’s signature tax cuts from his first term with a series of savings.
But conservatives are angling for much deeper spending cuts to tackle the ballooning deficit, while moderates say the savings would mean millions of the poorest Americans lose health coverage under the Medicaid program.
Trump said as he was greeted by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson that there were “one or two grandstanders” blocking the bill but that he was confident of a deal.
He warned that without the bill the United States would face huge tax increases.
“I think we’re going to have a very good discussion. There are one or two points that some people feel strongly about, but maybe not so strong,” Trump told reporters as he went in to meet lawmakers.
Trump has been eager to present the bill as a significant legislative accomplishment early in his second term, after a frenzied first few months where he has governed largely through presidential orders.
Health care fears
Fiscal hawks oppose the bill on the grounds that it would pile on to the already huge US budget deficit.
Independent congressional analysts calculate that the mega-bill’s tax provisions would add more than $4.8 trillion over the coming decade.
Trump insisted that he was “not touching” Medicaid but just cutting “waste, fraud and abuse” — the slogan of the administration’s cost-slashing drive led by tech tycoon Elon Musk.
The bill would, however, add new restrictions on the Medicaid program that helps provide health insurance for more than 70 million lower-income Americans.
They would include toughening work requirements for those receiving assistance and cutting it for undocumented migrants.
The policy change would result in more than 10 million people losing coverage under the program, according to estimates by the independent Congressional Budget Office.
Moderate Republicans fear overly large cuts in the popular program could upset the party’s prospects in the November 2026 midterm elections.
The bill — which is formally known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill” — cleared a key hurdle on Sunday when it finally progressed out of the House Budget Committee.
Several rebels who had blocked it on Friday dropped their earlier opposition after speaker Johnson spent the weekend persuading them.
But Trump will need everyone onside for it to get past Congress.
Republicans have a very slim majority in the House, meaning the legislation needs almost unanimous support to pass, with Democrats united against the bill.
Even if the bill passes in the House, it will face challenges in the Senate, where Republicans are demanding major changes.
