House Speaker Mike Johnson said Monday that the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives is still on track to pass President Donald Trump’s tax bill around the Memorial Day holiday on May 26. He told reporters there has been no “setback” in moving the legislation forward.
“Everybody remains in close coordination on the urgency of the hour, and we’re trying to get it done. If it’s not done before Memorial Day, it will be shortly thereafter. But our timetable is on pace,” Johnson told reporters at the U.S. Capitol, per Reuters.
Johnson admitted the timeline is “very ambitious” but maintained that House Republicans have not encountered any setbacks, despite delays in committee meetings required to advance individual components of the bill. GOP lawmakers remain divided over key proposals, including potential cuts to social safety net programs such as Medicaid, which provides healthcare for low-income Americans.
Those ‘cuts,’ however, are not benefits-focused. Republicans, acting on findings by the Department of Government Efficiency, are looking to cut identified waste, fraud, and abuse.
“It’s not a setback at all. In fact, I think it’s very productive,” Johnson said. “We would rather take another week and do it exactly right than rush it and have to adjust things later.”
Johnson stated that a crucial White House meeting with Trump had to conclude early due to other commitments, which hindered the decision-making process on several aspects of the bill.
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Meanwhile, the GOP-controlled Senate is preparing to deal with whatever version of a spending bill finally emerges from the House, though some have said the debates over some issues are off-target.
“I shut most of that out because they debate a lot of stuff. I call it a sandstorm of bad ideas,” Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), told Semafor, adding he’s not paying too much attention just yet.
As House Republicans weigh combining policies ranging from Medicaid to energy with a strategic mix of spending cuts, Rep. Moreno emphasized that the GOP Congress should stay focused on its core objectives: making the president’s 2017 tax cuts permanent, fully restoring research and development expensing to 100%, and introducing new Trump-backed tax breaks for tips, overtime, and Social Security.
“They love to make things complicated,” Moreno said of the House’s tax discussions. “I don’t think we need to do anything more than that.”
Despite ongoing efforts, House Republicans are still pushing forward with a much broader legislative package. One thing is certain: the Senate is almost certain to revise whatever version the House ultimately passes, Semafor reported.
“I don’t know what it’s going to look like when the smoke clears, but it’ll be changed,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. “Too early to tell. The only thing I would encourage my House colleagues to do is make meaningful spending reductions. And I know it’s hard, but it’s also time.”
“The toughest thing is how to pay for these issues. I think we’re at the point now, it’s time to fish or cut bait. How much money can the House save the American taxpayers?” said Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas. “Whatever they can do, we can get that amount done over here.”
For now, the House plans to move its legislation through the traditional committee process. The Senate, by contrast, has no intention of following that route; instead, it will either craft its own bill or revise whatever version the House sends over.
This approach could result in Senate leadership negotiating a revised bill that significantly amends the House’s proposal, setting the stage for a final compromise.
“There could be a world in which the House passes their bill, and then, you know, we’re here,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told Semafor, adding that one possibility is to “tweak it, and then send it back to them, and then they pass it.”
