House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday that Republicans are “on track” to send the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” to the president by “the end of the week,” despite opposition from some GOP hard-liners and moderates derailed the measure on Friday.
“This is a big deal. We cannot fail, and we’ll get it done for the American people,” Johnson told “Fox News Sunday.”.
The comments of the speaker come as the House Budget Committee will meet again at 10 p.m. Sunday to vote in favor of advancing the bill containing President Donald Trump’s agenda — a move to send the package to the House floor for a vote later this week before the Memorial Day deadline.
If the Budget Committee accepts the package, Johnson said the Rules Committee would convene midweek, paving the way for a floor vote later this week.
Critical components of the bill seek to provide deep tax cuts by cutting expenses in other domains, like several hundred billions of dollars out of Medicaid.
A group of Budget Committee conservatives on Friday voted to delay the package from reaching the floor — partly in protest of a cut-off date for Medicaid work requirements — in defiance of Trump and Republican leaders. Under existing language in the bill, Medicaid requirements wouldn’t go into effect until 2029. Conservatives, however, are insisting the requirements start much earlier, as soon as 2027.
Some of the states have — it takes them a while. We’ve learned in doing this how to adapt their systems and how to make sure that these stringent requirements that we will put on that in order to reduce fraud, waste and abuse, can actually be implemented. So, we’re working with them [hardliners] to make sure what the earliest possible date is to put something into law that will actually be helpful. I believe we have to negotiate on that. I believe we’ll figure it out,” Johnson asserted.
What about the Senate?
Johnson explained both bodies have been collaborating “in close coordination” and hopes the Senate won’t change the House bill.
The package that we would send over there would be one that was very carefully negotiated and finely tuned, and we hope they [Senate] don’t make too many changes to it, because that will guarantee its passage promptly,” he said.
Johnson went on to add that Congress must pass the package on or before July 4, especially with the mid-July “deadline” for the debt limit in order not to default.
We’ve got to have this on the president’s desk by that huge celebration on Independence Day. And I’m sure that we can,” he added.
Reaction to Moody’s downgrade over debt
Moody’s Ratings lowered the U.S. government from a gold-standard Aaa to Aa1 rating on Friday, blaming its inability to stem a rising wave of debt.
Moody’s is the third of the three large rating agencies to downgrade the credit of the federal government. Standard & Poor’s did it in 2011 and Fitch Ratings did it in 2023.
“Moody’s is correct, but that’s why that makes the point the very necessity of the legislation we’re discussing, historic spending reductions.”. I mean, this will help to change the direction for the U.S. economy and give that message of stability to our allies and even to our enemies around the world,” Johnson insisted.
“President Trump’s ‘one big, beautiful bill’ will pass, and that is going to be the magic that turns this thing around.”. We have to make this happen, and it’s just emphasizing more of the feeling of urgency of why we’re doing exactly what we’re doing with the legislation.