Republican rifts: Divisions within President Trump’s own party on Wednesday were slowing progress toward a vote on the sweeping bill to fulfill his domestic agenda. The White House and Speaker Mike Johnson are working to unite House Republicans behind the bill, which would slash taxes and the federal safety net. The measure can survive just a few Republican defections. Read more ›
Asylum ruling: President Trump does not have the power to categorically stop asylum seekers at the southern border, a federal judge ruled Wednesday, rejecting a change the president made his first day in office. The ruling takes effect in two weeks, to give the administration time to appeal. Read more ›
Trade: Mr. Trump said his administration had reached a trade deal with Vietnam, which had been set to face a 46 percent tariff. The preliminary deal will impose a 20 percent tariff on imports and 40 percent on goods shipped through the country from elsewhere, though the details remained unclear. Read more ›
After more than six hours, every member of the House has voted on a long-stalled procedural vote. The last vote was cast by Representative Lauren Boebert of Colorado. If the count holds, the vote will succeed along party lines, clearing the way for a vote to open debate on the Republican megabill.
But the vote has not yet been officially closed, suggesting that Republican leadership is not yet ready to move on, and the House chamber is still mostly empty.
It is difficult to guess how many holdouts remain, especially with a number of lawmakers voicing objections to the Senate’s version of the bill but remaining noncommittal about whether their misgivings were grave enough for them to vote against it. And many of the Republicans currently making noise have done so before, only to ultimately back down.
In the meantime, meetings to bring the bill to the finish line seem to be continuing apace. Earlier, two White House aides who oversee legislative affairs, James Braid and James Blair, briefly stopped by Speaker Mike Johnson’s office.
Here’s where things stand in the House, more than 10 hours into a day of haggling over the president’s big policy bill with no clear end in sight:
A procedural vote that was meant to clear the way for another procedural vote that would let Republicans bring the bill to the floor — yes, really — has now been open for more than five hours while Republican leaders try to sway holdouts to vote for the Senate version of the bill.
Usually, votes are not held open this long, a point that Representative Joe Neguse, Democrat of Colorado, made on the floor some four hours ago when he asked if it was procedurally allowed to have a vote this long. (It is.)
0 Comments