No way it passes

"No way it passes today": House Freedom Caucus chair pours doubt on future of budget bill

From CNN's Riane Lumer

The chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, GOP Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, cast doubt on the future of the bill aimed at delivering on President Donald Trump’s agenda today, saying the legislation “actually got worse overnight” as negotiations continue on Capitol Hill.

Harris told Newsmax in an interview that he doesn’t believe the legislation will pass today, despite House Speaker Mike Johnson’s efforts. Johnson can only afford to lose a handful of Republican votes, as no Democrats are expected to back the effort.

“There is no way it passes today,” Harris said. “And as I’ve said all along, we may need a couple of weeks to iron everything out, but it’s not going anywhere today.”

Harris added that including the cap increase to deductions from state and local taxes — often shorthanded as SALT and a key issue for Republicans in typically blue states — is partly to blame because it “upset a lot of conservatives.”

“Conservatives are pushing for some balancing spending reductions. We actually stopped negotiating just before midnight because we actually had a deal that was then pulled off the table,” Harris said.

That deal called for an end to “waste, fraud, and abuse” in the Medicaid program, which Harris said a “majority of Americans are OK with.” But time is running out for initial efforts to move over the finish line, Harris warned.

“And when it comes to the floor, it’s going to fail,” Harris said. “Hopefully it’ll fail in a way that keeps the negotiations and the bill alive, but it’s not going anywhere today.”