Legislation setting the stage for Republicans to pass a broad swath of President Donald Trump’s agenda survived an important hurdle on Wednesday afternoon.
House GOP lawmakers voted to allow for debate on the legislation, known as a “rule vote,” a framework that serves as one of the first steps in the budget reconciliation process.
It’s still unclear whether House Republicans have enough support to pass the legislation itself, though GOP leaders have indicated they’re moving full steam ahead in a matter of hours.
“I think we can get this job done. I understand the holdouts. I mean, their concerns are real. They really want to have true budget cuts and to change the debt trajectory that the country is on,” Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters ahead of the first vote.
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The legislation advanced through the procedural hurdle in a narrow 216 to 215 vote, with three Republicans — Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.; Victoria Spartz, R-Ind.; and Mike Turner, R-Ohio — voting with Democrats to block it.
Trump has directed Republicans to work on “one big, beautiful bill” to advance his agenda on border security, defense, energy and taxes.
Such a measure is largely only possible via the budget reconciliation process. Traditionally used when one party controls all three branches of government, reconciliation lowers the Senate’s threshold for passage of certain fiscal measures from 60 votes to 51. As a result, it has been used to pass broad policy changes in one or two massive pieces of legislation.
Rule votes are traditionally not indicators of a bill’s final passage, and they generally fall along party lines.
Several Republicans who voted to allow debate on the measure have said they will still oppose its final passage.
Passing frameworks in the House and Senate, which largely only include numbers indicating increases or decreases in funding, allows each chamber’s committees to then craft policy in line with those numbers under their specific jurisdictions.
The House passed its own version of the reconciliation framework earlier this year, while the Senate passed an amended version last week. House GOP leaders now believe that voting on the Senate’s plan will allow Republicans to enter the next step of crafting policy.
But fiscal hawks have raised concerns about the differences in minimum mandatory spending cuts, which they hope will offset the cost of new federal investments and start a path to reducing the deficit.
The Senate’s version calls for at least $4 billion in spending cuts, while the House baseline begins at $1.5 trillion — a significant gap.
Conservatives have demanded extra guarantees from the Senate GOP that it is committed to pursuing deeper spending cuts in line with the House package.
“They don’t have a plan that I’ve seen. So until I see that, I’m a no,” Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., told Fox News Digital.
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Trump himself worked to persuade holdouts both in a smaller-scale White House meeting on Tuesday and in public remarks at the National Republican Congressional Committee.
He also fired off multiple Truth Social posts pushing House Republicans to support the measure, even as conservatives argue it would not go far enough in fulfilling Trump’s agenda.
“Republicans, it is more important now, than ever, that we pass THE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL. The USA will Soar like never before!!!” one of the posts read.
