Trump pressures House Republican holdouts as reconciliation talks intensify



President Donald Trump made a much-needed appearance on Capitol Hill Tuesday morning as more and more House Republicans turn on the "big, beautiful bill."

Trump met with the House Republican conference alongside Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who has been working around the clock to make sure reconciliation can pass. But with just two Republican votes to spare and multiple unresolved policy negotiations, the fate of the bill still remains in the balance.

'Anybody that didn't support it, as a Republican, I would consider a fool.'

RELATED: Fiscal hawks send warning as 'big, beautiful bill' clears high-stakes vote: 'We have to do more to deliver'

POTUS gaggles with reporters after meeting with House Rs on reconciliation.

Trump says “anybody that didn’t support it, as a Republican, I would consider to be a fool.”

Several House Rs remained a “no” after the meeting.@theblaze pic.twitter.com/SdV3K5x9mZ
— Rebeka Zeljko (@rebekazeljko) May 20, 2025
 

During the meeting, Trump made it clear that he was losing his patience with Republican defectors and even suggested they should be primaried. Trump told members not to let SALT negotiations get in the way of reconciliation, even calling out Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York during the meeting.

Lawler notably rejected Johnson's latest — and very generous — offer to increase the state and local tax deduction cap to $40,000, which is a $10,000 increase from the originally proposed cap.

Trump also called out fiscal hawks, specifically Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who has maintained that he won't vote for the bill. However, Massie was not alone, with multiple House Republicans saying their views on the bill have not changed.

"Anybody that didn't support it, as a Republican, I would consider a fool," Trump told reporters after the meeting. "It's a great bill for America."

RELATED: Why the GOP is so frustrated trying to negotiate with the ‘SALT Caucus’

  Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

At the same time, House Freedom Caucus members, like Republican Reps. Chip Roy of Texas and Andy Harris of Maryland, still weren't persuaded by the president.

"We all are here to advance the agenda that the President ran on and that we all ran on," Roy said following the meeting. "I don't think the bill is exactly where it needs to be, yet. We need to extend the Trump tax cuts, but we also need to deliver on the spending restraint ... I think Congress can do a better job."

"The president, I don't think, convinced enough people that the bill is adequate, the way it is," Harris said. "President called for eliminating waste, fraud, abuse in Medicaid, and we have not eliminated waste, fraud, and abuse."

RELATED: Exclusive: Why Chip Roy can't support the 'big, beautiful bill': 'The swamp does what the swamp does'

  Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Johnson made progress with fiscal conservatives over the weekend when the bill passed through the Budget Committee Sunday night after initially failing a vote on Friday. Leading up to the vote, Johnson met with the Republican holdouts and floated a 2026 start date for Medicaid work requirements rather than the original 2029 implementation date. As a result, four Republicans, including Roy, voted "present" and allowed the bill to advance.

Trump addressed Medicaid during the meeting, telling members not to "f*** around" with the program with the exception of mitigating fraud, waste, and abuse.

"The only thing we're cutting is waste, fraud, and abuse," Trump said. "We're not changing Medicaid, and we're not changing Medicare, and we're not changing Social Security.”

Although Republican defectors seem to be digging their heels in, Trump remained optimistic about the future of his bill.

"I think we're in good shape," Trump told reporters. "This was a meeting of love. There is great unity in that room."

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Blue state rebels against DOGE, votes to fund radical abortion, LGBTQ agenda in defiance of Trump



Representatives in one of the bluest states in the country voted to pass a bill that would fund a bevy of far-left projects and organizations now that President Donald Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency have frozen some federal funding.

On Monday, Connecticut state representatives voted overwhelmingly to pass H.B. 7066. The measure is considered an "emergency certified bill," which allows representatives to expedite the approval process without the hassle of consulting legislative committees first.

'Giving more taxpayer money, even one cent, let alone $800,000, to those in the abortion business is truly tragic.'

Among other things, the bill offers a whopping $2.8 million in overall funding, much of which will be allocated to far-left groups. The largest recipient in the bill by far is Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, slated to receive a cool $800,000, even after the group was reportedly already gifted added millions in recent months.

Chris Healy, executive director of Connecticut Catholic Public Affairs Conference, noted to lawmakers that Planned Parenthood was already allocated an additional $3 million at the end of the 2024 legislative session, according to the Hartford Courant. State Rep. Tammy Nuccio (R-Tolland) also claimed that the state House appropriated another $500,000, bringing the total to perhaps $3.5 million in added funding.

"Why are we giving Planned Parenthood $800,000 now ... that they’re going to need to spend in the next three months?" Nuccio wondered during a speech on the House floor.

"Giving more taxpayer money, even one cent, let alone $800,000, to those in the abortion business is truly tragic," said Healy. "We can only pray for those in power to reject this horrible idea."

Sadly, Planned Parenthood of Southern New England is far from the only leftist group that will benefit from H.B. 7066. The bill gives $225,000 a piece to Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services and the New Haven Gay and Lesbian Community Center and nearly $390,000 to the Hartford Gay and Lesbian Health Collective.

Additionally, nearly two dozen other organizations are slated to receive $62,500 each. Those groups include Junta for Progressive Action, the Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants, Connecticut Immigrant and Refugee Coalition, Queer Youth Program of Connecticut, and OutCT, yet another LGBTQ outfit that features its own youth program.

Middlesex Hospital is also slated to receive $62,500, and according to the Courant, the hospital intends to spend the money on a "gender clinic." Furthermore, the bill requires each Connecticut school to designate at least one administrator who will "interact" with federal immigration authorities.

  Screenshot of H.B. 7066

State Rep. Toni Walker (D-New Haven) basically admitted that the efforts of Trump and DOGE at the federal level prompted this "emergency" funding bill at the state level. "This is a small, incremental help while we try to work out these issues with Washington," Walker said.

"We were trying to spread it out to as many organizations as possible. There were several locations that had lost funding. ... They needed some support."

Republicans Gale Mastrofrancesco of Wolcott and Jay Case of Winsted balked that so many worthy causes, including those that help the poor and homeless, had been overlooked in favor of Dem pet projects regarding gender and sexuality.

"We have American citizens who can’t even afford their electric bill," said Mastrofrancesco.

"We have people sleeping outside at night," added Case. "We have nothing here for that."

'Tell me what politicians fund, and I’ll tell you what they value.'

Despite their objections, 7066 sailed through the state House, 94-49, almost entirely along party lines. All Republicans voted against it, and just two Democrats joined them. On Tuesday, the Senate decided to schedule the measure for a vote.

State Rep. Joe Canino (R-Torrington) described the entire measure as "absurd."

"In this 'emergency bill,' we are giving almost a million dollars to Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, an organization with an endowment over $70 million. We have people sleeping out in the cold, families who are running out of food assistance, and disabled children who lack services. That is where the emergency is. Budgeting is about priorities, and Connecticut is now prioritizing an ideological war with the Trump administration over funding for those who truly need it most," Canino said in a statement to Blaze News.

Leaders of the Connecticut watchdog group Yankee Institute are likewise frustrated with the expenditures in the bill.

"Tell me what politicians fund, and I’ll tell you what they value," Yankee Institute President Carol Platt Liebau said in a statement to Blaze News. "The fact that they did it in secret reveals that they know their priorities are out of step with the taxpayers that subsidize their reckless spending."

Frank Ricci, a fellow at Yankee Institute, described the bill as "cloaked in darkness" and a "brutal slap to transparency." However, he added that it also demonstrates just how effective Trump and the DOGE have been in just a few short weeks.

"This lays bare the power of DOGE and rigorous audits to rip the mask off waste, fraud, and abuse," Ricci said in a statement to Blaze News. "Without them, taxpayers would be left clueless, their pockets quietly picked to fund these cozy political pet projects."

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Trump fires IG who oversaw USAID while waste, fraud, and abuse exploded



The inspector general tasked with monitoring spending habits at the controversial U.S. Agency for International Development is now out of a job.

On Tuesday evening, Trent Morse, deputy director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, emailed USAID Inspector General Paul Martin to let him know that he had been "terminated, effective immediately."

Martin admitted in his report that his office had 'offered recommendations to improve Agency programming to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse.'

Though Morse did not provide a reason for Martin's termination, it is likely tied to the rampant waste, fraud, and abuse Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency appear to have uncovered at the agency. According to the DOGE, USAID — dedicated to distributing American tax dollars to foreign countries — spent billions on leftist, anti-American pet projects ranging from "trans-led" and "gender-affirming" organizations in Guatemala to a Hamas-linked charity in Gaza to DEI scholarships in Burma, as Blaze News previously reported.

No one else from Martin's office was terminated, though staff no longer have access to the building, CBS News reported. The USAID website has likewise gone dark, and many employees have been sacked. The apparent corruption runs so deep that Musk referred to the agency as a "criminal organization."

Inspectors general are considered independent watchdogs who oversee various federal agencies to curtail waste, fraud, and abuse. Trump had already fired at least 17 IGs in his first few weeks in office, but Martin was not among them — until now.

After learning of his termination, Martin messaged colleagues to break the news:

It has been a true honor and pleasure to walk alongside my OIG colleagues around the world as we sought to provide independent and aggressive oversight of USAID programs and personnel. And while I had hoped to walk with all of you a bit longer on this journey, that will not be possible.

Martin's termination likely did not come as a surprise after he issued a report on Monday warning the Trump administration that a spending freeze and staffing reductions at USAID would "degrade" the agency's ability to conduct normal operations.

For instance, a counterterrorism unit would be unable to "conduct any partner vetting," perhaps resulting in the agency "inadvertently funding entities or salaries of individuals associated with U.S.-designated terrorist organizations," Martin's report claimed.

The report also said that funding freezes would prevent the USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance from processing and responding to "allegations of fraud, waste, abuse, or diversion of humanitarian aid." It is unclear how the BHA had been addressing such allegations, considering the apparent proliferation of wasteful spending at USAID.

In fact, Martin admitted in his report that his office had "identified significant challenges and offered recommendations to improve Agency programming to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse" and that "long-standing concerns about existing USAID oversight mechanisms persist." Yet he still argued that spending freezes and staffing cuts were not the answer.

According to an archived version of his USAID bio, Martin has been a career deep-stater. He joined the U.S. Sentencing Commission when it was first formed in 1985, then transferred 13 years later to the Office of Inspector General at the Department of Justice.

Martin also spent 14 years as IG of NASA before President Joe Biden nominated him to be IG of USAID in December 2023. He had also been serving as vice chair of the COVID-related Pandemic Response Accountability Committee since it was formed in April 2020.

The White House apparently did not respond to CNN's request for comment on Martin's ouster.

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