logo
Greene says Johnson doesn't have votes to pass ‘big, beautiful bill': ‘S— show'

Greene says Johnson doesn't have votes to pass ‘big, beautiful bill': ‘S— show'

The Hilla day ago
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) predicted a tough battle ahead for President Trump's agenda-setting 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' as the tax and spending megabill returns to the House following its dramatic Senate passage Tuesday, describing the situation as a 's— show.'
'There's no way that [Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.)] has the votes in the House for this,' Greene told political pundit and Trump ally Steve Bannon on an episode of his 'War Room' podcast. 'I think it's far from over.'
She added, 'It is really a dire situation.'
The House returned to the Capitol on Wednesday to try to hash out differences between its version of the bill and the one advanced through the Senate — which was narrowly passed after a tie-breaking vote from Vice President Vance following a marathon debate on its specifics. Trump has pressed GOP lawmakers to send the bill to him for final approval by Friday.
'We're on a time clock that's been really set on us, so we have a lot of pressure — and then also given the fact that there's 435 members of Congress and it's hard for us to get to an agreement on anything,' Greene continued. 'So this whole thing is — I don't know what to call it — it's a s— show.'
'I know we're not supposed to say that on the air, but that's truly what it is,' the Georgia Republican added.
The House passed its take on the bill in May in a razor-thin 215-214 vote amid pressure from Trump, Vance and other White House allies.
Johnson and other GOP leaders have been trying to bring skeptical House members on board with changes that the Senate made in its version by this week's self-imposed deadline that Trump has pushed.
'We knew we would come to this moment. We knew the Senate would amend the House product. I encouraged them to amend it as lightly as possible. They went a little further than many of us would have preferred, but we have the product now,' Johnson told reporters in the Capitol on Tuesday. 'As the President said, it's his bill. It's not a House bill, it's not a Senate bill, it's the American people's bill.'
'My objective and my responsibility is to get that bill over the line, so we will do everything possible to do that, and I will work with all of our colleagues,' he added.
Johnson has also acknowledged that inclement weather could add another road bump, after several lawmakers posted online that their flights back to Washington were delayed or canceled.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Watch Live: House nearing final vote on Trump's "big, beautiful bill"
Watch Live: House nearing final vote on Trump's "big, beautiful bill"

CBS News

time26 minutes ago

  • CBS News

Watch Live: House nearing final vote on Trump's "big, beautiful bill"

Washington — The House is nearing a final vote Thursday on President Trump's "big, beautiful bill" after Republican leaders overcame resistance from GOP holdouts in a dramatic overnight session and advanced the Senate version of the measure early Thursday morning. "We'll have the votes," House Speaker Mike Johnson said Thursday morning. "We'll land this plane before July 4th." Republicans are trying to approve the final version of the legislation ahead of the self-imposed Friday deadline to get the bill to the president's desk. After hours of delay, the House voted 219-213 to advance the bill, scoring a key victory for Johnson. Lawmakers began voting at about 9:30 p.m. EDT Wednesday, but didn't wrap up until about 3:20 a.m. Thursday, as GOP leaders and the White House spoke with holdouts for hours to overcome their objections. "What are the Republicans waiting for??? What are you trying to prove??? MAGA IS NOT HAPPY, AND IT'S COSTING YOU VOTES!!!" Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social shortly after midnight. Following the procedural vote, the House began debating the bill. Just before 5 a.m., House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries began addressing the chamber for a "magic minute," which allows the leader unlimited speaking time. Seven hours later, the New York Democrat is still addressing the chamber, pledging to "take his time" as he highlighted the Americans who he said would suffer because of the bill. "I rise today in strong opposition to Donald Trump's one, big ugly bill," Jeffries said as he began speaking. "This disgusting, abomination, the GOP tax scam, that guts Medicaid, rips food from the mouths of children, seniors and veterans, and rewards billionaires with massive tax breaks. Every single Democrat stands in strong opposition to this bill because we're standing up for the American people." Johnson is expected to speak after Jeffries concludes, followed by the final vote. House hardliners push back against Senate changes After the Senate approved the bill Tuesday, House GOP leaders had aimed to move ahead quickly on the signature legislation of Mr. Trump's second-term agenda, which includes ramped-up spending for border security, defense and energy production and extends trillions of dollars in tax cuts, partially offset by substantial cuts to health care and nutrition programs. But some House Republicans, who voted to pass an earlier version of the bill in May, were unhappy with the Senate's changes. Holdouts, including moderates and members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, met with Mr. Trump on Wednesday as the White House pressured House Republicans to vote for the bill. While some lawmakers described the meetings as productive, a number of conservatives said ahead of a rule vote Wednesday afternoon that they thought the procedural vote would fail. Johnson spent weeks pleading with his Senate counterparts not to make any major changes to the version of the bill that passed the lower chamber by a single vote in May. He said the Senate bill's changes "went a little further than many of us would've preferred." The Senate-passed bill includes steeper Medicaid cuts, a higher increase in the debt limit and changes to the House bill's green energy policies and the state and local tax deduction. Other controversial provisions that faced pushback in both chambers, including the sale of public lands in nearly a dozen states, a 10-year moratorium on states regulating artificial intelligence and an excise tax on the renewable energy industry, were stripped from the Senate bill before heading back to the House. Before the critical procedural vote ended, Johnson told reporters that Mr. Trump was "directly engaged" in conversations with skeptical members. "Members wanted to hear certain assurances from him about what's ahead, what the future will entail, and what we're going to do next, and all of that," Johnson said. "And he was very, very helpful in that process." In the wee hours on Thursday, five House Republicans had voted no on the rule vote, which was enough to tank the vote with a razor-thin GOP majority in the lower chamber, and eight possible holdouts had not voted. But the vote remained open as GOP leaders worked to shore up support, allowing lawmakers to change their votes from no to yes. Mr. Trump had taken to Truth Social as a handful of Republican holdouts didn't appear to be budging, declaring "FOR REPUBLICANS, THIS SHOULD BE AN EASY YES VOTE. RIDICULOUS!!!" Republican leaders ultimately won the support of about a dozen GOP opponents to the rule. And when the vote finally came to an end, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania was the sole Republican opposed. , and contributed to this report.

Trump Wants to Expand Nuclear Power. It Won't Be Easy.
Trump Wants to Expand Nuclear Power. It Won't Be Easy.

Wall Street Journal

time27 minutes ago

  • Wall Street Journal

Trump Wants to Expand Nuclear Power. It Won't Be Easy.

President Trump wants the U.S. power industry to go nuclear. His recent executive orders aim to quadruple nuclear-power generation in the next 25 years—a monumental target. For most of the past three decades, the industry has been managing ever-older assets instead of building new reactors. Developers are counting on a supply-chain revival and will have to prove they can deliver on time and on budget to drive interest in the sector.

Economic uncertainty casts shadow over June's solid jobs report
Economic uncertainty casts shadow over June's solid jobs report

Axios

time28 minutes ago

  • Axios

Economic uncertainty casts shadow over June's solid jobs report

The American labor market keeps hanging on, even as signs of weakness crop up. Why it matters: Hiring is solid, defying expectations that the worrisome macroeconomic backdrop — huge uncertainty about trade, immigration, and the fiscal outlook — would keep more employers on the sidelines. But Thursday's Bureau of Labor Statistics report stops well short of giving an "all-clear" for the economy. Beyond the headline, labor supply is dwindling and demand for workers is narrowing. These issues could plague the labor market in the months ahead. By the numbers: Employment increased by 147,000 last month, surpassing the gain of 115,000 jobs forecasters anticipated. The unemployment rate edged down a tick to 4.1%. The government revised up payroll figures for April and May, noting that employment in the prior two months was higher by a combined 16,000 than initially forecast. The report showed that 80.7% of the prime-age population — those aged 25-54 — was employed, just 0.2 percentage point shy of the peak seen in this economic cycle. Zoom in: Conditions look less cheery beneath the surface. The private sector added just 74,000 jobs in June, almost half as many as the previous month. Jobs growth was overwhelmingly concentrated in state and local government, with less impressive gains in the most cyclical sectors — that is, those most exposed to the weakening economy. State and local government added 73,000 jobs, offsetting the continued declines in federal government (-7,000) from DOGE-related layoffs. The other big gainer was health care, which added 39,000 jobs. While the number of unemployed Americans fell, the labor force also continued to shrink for the second consecutive month, helping keep downward pressure on the unemployment rate. Another 130,000 workers exited the workforce in June. What they're saying:"There are real weaknesses in the market — including concentrated job gains, slowing wage growth, and falling participation — that have persisted for months, and there are scant signs of those concerns fading anytime soon," Indeed economist Cory Stahle wrote Thursday morning. The big picture: Stahle compared the current labor market to a sturdy tent, but one that is "increasingly held up by fewer poles." Among those poles are structural forces, including a shortage of workers from America's aging population and the immigration crackdown. There is also an "ongoing reluctance among employers so far" to layoff workers in masse, a scarring effect of the pandemic when it was impossible to find and train staff. Yes, but: There are profound economic changes underway that look set to supersede those factors; the adoption of AI is already shifting employers' hiring plans. President Trump is ending the era of free trade, making it more costly for businesses to get goods from overseas — a dynamic that will force a reckoning among companies about their other expenses, including labor.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store