Members of the House Freedom Caucus will meet President Donald Trump at 3 p.m. on May 21 to attempt finalization of the Republican megabill, which fiscal conservatives have slowed over objections to spending levels.
The sit-down comes as members of the House Rules Committee continue to debate the bill, known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” that will fund Trump’s second-term agenda.
Behind the scenes, Republicans continue negotiations on an amendment to the bill that will satisfy the concerns of both fiscal conservatives and moderates within their ranks.
Democrats are unified in opposition to the bill, which they say benefits the wealthy at the expense of low-income Americans who will lose health and nutrition benefits.
Seven Freedom Caucus members presented a united front at a midday press conference, saying they stand behind the president’s objectives and are trying to work within the legislative process to produce that result.
“The president yesterday laid out some real clear terms, and we’re working to achieve those,” Harris said.
The debate now centers on the reduction of fraud and waste in Medicaid and ending the so-called Green New Deal tax incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act, two things Trump asked Congress to accomplish.
The current version of the bill does not do enough in either regard, according to Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas).
“There are millions of Americans right now who can’t get health care,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said. “We’ve got a broken system that rewards the able-bodied over the vulnerable, that gives more money to people on Medicaid than on Medicare. We are trying to fix those things.”
Regarding energy, Roy said, “When the president said, end the [green energy tax credits], he didn’t mean leave 40 to 45 to 50 percent of the subsidies ongoing.”
“It’s making our [electrical] grids unreliable,” Roy added. “We want to make sure that we can deliver affordable energy to all Americans.”
Caucus members declined to name specific changes they’re seeking in the bill, only that they were focused broadly on eliminating fraud and waste in Medicaid and ending green energy tax credits, which they said were counterproductive.
Members bristled at the suggestion that they were attempting to change previously accepted spending agreements.
“We’re not saying we need to [increase] the cuts,” Harris said. “We’re saying rearrange it within the goalposts in accordance with what the president wants.”
Despite the mounting pressure to pass the bill on May 21, Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) said the group’s aim is not to hold up the process but to ensure a good result.
“This is a completely arbitrary deadline set by people here to force people into a corner to make bad decisions,” Harris said. “It’s more important to get this right.”
