Trump, Hegseth push Golden Dome missile defense plan
President Trump unveiled a plan for a missile defense system that he says will cost $175 billion.
WASHINGTON – Progress on President Donald Trump’s massive tax and policy bill has stalled as ultraconservative members of the House Freedom Caucus demand further changes.
The intra-party spat comes as Republicans are trying to push through a massive party-line package that includes tax cuts, sweeping changes to Medicaid and food benefits, border security and defense funding and more.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has said he wants to pass the bill before the Memorial Day weekend. But fiscal conservatives are concerned about the more than $3.3 trillion the package will add to the deficit and are pushing for a quicker roll-back of green energy subsidies passed under former President Joe Biden and additional changes to Medicaid.
“I don’t think it can get done today,” House Freedom Caucus chair Rep. Andy Harris, R-Maryland, told reporters on May 21.
The revolt from the most conservative wing of the House GOP came a day after Trump met with Republicans in the U.S. Capitol and told them to stop negotiating and pass the bill. But many lawmakers coming out of the meeting took the message as fuel to push for their changes, such as eliminating “waste, fraud and abuse” from the program that provides health insurance to more than 71 million Americans.
“The president yesterday laid out some really clear terms, and we’re working to achieve them,” said Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas.