May 20 (UPI) — President Donald Trump visited Capitol Hill Tuesday to move those House Republicans who have so far chosen not to approve his legislative agenda bill to cease their opposition and move the legislation forward.
Trump was blunt in his dealings with conservative GOP representatives who want the bill to cut deeper into Medicaid.
He further pushed that message as he spoke to reporters outside the meeting and said of Medicaid that the bill would only cut “waste, fraud and abuse.”
The other GOP House faction he came to beseech are those who hail from mostly blue states and seek a higher cap on the state and local tax, or SALT, deduction. Trump alleged that it’s the governors of blue states like New York, Illinois and California, who would benefit if they were to change the bill to up the SALT cap, “and those governors are the ones who blew it because they weren’t able to get it.”
In the closed-door session, Trump reportedly told those who held out for SALT should “leave it alone” and run with the bill as is.
However, so far Trump’s efforts have not encouraged the SALT faction to flip. Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., told the press Tuesday he still plans to vote no on the bill, but that Trump does understand that it’s “imperative to get a deal done and a bill passed.”
New York GOP Reps. Nick LaLota and Andrew Garbarino have also said they remain a no.
There are also Republicans who are hardline against a SALT cap raise.
“Republicans going to bat for tax deductions that will primarily benefit limousine liberals in blue states,” said Thomas Massie, R-Ky., in an X post Tuesday, “This carve out for affluent people in states like NY and California will increase the deficit substantially and is a reversal of Trump’s first term tax policy.”
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., remains steadfast that he wants the bill passed by the House by May 26, which is Memorial Day, but as of Tuesday those GOP House members with gripes have put the bill’s movement in neutral.
The press office for Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, posted to social media Tuesday that Roy has said “We all are here to advance the agenda that the President ran on and that we all ran on,” but added “I don’t think the bill is exactly where it needs to be, yet.”