Trump says July 4 ‘big, beautiful bill' deadline ‘not the end all'
President Trump on Friday said the July 4 deadline he set for Congress to pass his 'big, beautiful bill' could have some wiggle room, backing off of pressure on Republicans.
'It's important. It's not the end all,' Trump said about the deadline during a press conference at the White House. 'But we'd like to get it done in that time, if possible.'
Republicans are scrambling to save the megabill, which has stalled after a ruling by the Senate parliamentarian against including a GOP proposal to slash hundreds of billions of dollars in federal Medicaid spending. The provision is central to the bill to help pay for Trump's tax agenda.
Trump is expected to stay in Washington over the weekend, while he typically travels to one of his properties for the weekends. The president earlier this week threatened to yank the July 4 recesses next week if the legislation is not on his desk by the Independence Day deadline.
Earlier on Friday, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said 'it's possible' the July 4 deadline could slip, adding, 'I don't even want to accept that as an option right now.'
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) on Thursday, following the parliamentarian ruling, said his leadership team had 'contingency plans' to keep the bill moving forward.
'We have contingency plans, plan B, plan C,' he said.
But losing the proposal to deeply cut federal Medicaid payments means Republicans will need to come up with hundreds of billions in new savings to pay for the cost of making several corporate tax cuts permanent.
Senate Democrats estimate the parliamentarian had rejected approximately $250 billion of spending cuts from the bill.
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