Trump is 'done with whining' Republicans: reporter
President Donald Trump summoned Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and members of the House Freedom Caucus "for a scolding," MSNBC host Katy Tur reported Wednesday. One reporter noted that the president might be losing his patience with the lawmakers.
NBC News Capitol Hill Correspondent Ryan Nobles revealed that there are still over 500 amendments to the House budget bill that must be voted on before the vote on the full bill.
Nobles said that some amendments are an "effort by Democrats to message against this legislation."
"But that's not the real hold-up right now," he added. "The real holdup is that Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House, doesn't have the votes. And this is despite the fact that the president of the United States came here to Capitol Hill yesterday to essentially strong-arm these holdouts and tell them that it's time to vote 'yes.'"
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Nobles said that the disagreements come from the Freedom Caucus, made up of far-right lawmakers, many of whom are against any spending that adds to the deficit. He said that the members feel that negotiations are "heading in the right direction."
"They feel like they're getting the cuts that they're looking for, but they're not all the way there yet," continued Nobles. And what they're telling the speaker is there's no reason to speed up this timeline. We don't have to vote on this before Memorial Day."
Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) told the press earlier Wednesday that the leadership will "have to figure out where we go from here."
"Trump's made it very clear to this group he is done with them whining about this bill. He thinks that the bill is fine in the form and fashion in which it's already been written, and he wants them to vote yes as soon as possible. The speaker feels the same way. And of course, Katy, you run the risk, the more conservative the bill becomes, the more opportunity it is for moderates to then say that they're unhappy with it and then change their 'yes' votes to 'no.' So, this is a very delicate dance that Mike Johnson is engaged in with a very, very small room for error."
Trump met with the House GOP caucus on Tuesday and spoke to reporters outside the Capitol. One of the questions was about Trump losing his patience with the members.
"Who told you that? That's a lie. Who told you I said I'm losing my patience?" Trump demanded.
Upon entering office, Trump said that he wanted everything to be rolled into "one, big, beautiful bill" that included the budget, funding for his immigration and border security plan and extending his 2017 tax cuts.
See his report below or at the link here.
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