Trump’s tax-cut bill passes key committee, moves to House
President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax-cut bill passed a key committee and will move to a House vote.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump warned the right flank of House Republicans not to touch Medicaid any further, urging GOP lawmakers to rally behind what he’s called his “big, beautiful bill” to carry out his domestic agenda.
“Don’t f‒‒‒ around with Medicaid,” Trump said, according to multiple Republican lawmakers present at the meeting, who agreed to speak candidly about what Trump told them if USA TODAY granted them anonymity.
Trump’s message came as members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus have pushed for deeper cuts to Medicaid to support the legislation, which Trump and Republican House leadership hope to pass through a budget process known as reconciliation.
Trump said Republicans should focus only on “eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse” from Medicaid, according to a senior White House official, including adding work requirements and cutting immigrants who are in the country without authorization from the program.
“That was a meeting of love. That was love in that room,” Trump said after the meeting concluded. “There was no shouting. There were a couple of things that we talked about specifically where some people felt a little bit one way or the other ‒ not a big deal. And I covered them.”
In a reversal from his past position, Trump also said he does not support a provision for a state and local tax deduction, known as SALT, which moderate Republicans from Democratic-led states such as New York have sought.
“We don’t want to benefit Democrat governors,” Trump told reporters ahead of the meeting.
Inside the meeting, Trump’s message regarding SALT was don’t let the issue impede the bill and to push the fight to another day, the White House official said.
“The President also made it clear he’s losing patience with all holdout factions of the House Republican Conference, including the SALT Caucus and the House Freedom Caucus,” the official said. “The President is clear: he wants EVERY Republican to vote yes.”
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.