Capitol agenda: Mike Johnson on the cusp of megabill victory
After it appeared to be derailed late Wednesday by hard-right holdouts, Republicans advanced the bill around 3:30 a.m. and are set to vote on final passage around 6 a.m.
During the all-nighter, GOP leaders kept the procedural vote open for almost six hours as they worked to flip 12 votes. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick was the lone Republican to vote 'no' at the end.
Things looked dire until around the 2 a.m. hour, when Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise returned to the House floor saying they had the votes. Not long after, the speaker was seen talking, laughing and what appeared to be praying with some of the House Freedom Caucus holdouts.
How did they get there? Per Meredith Lee Hill, holdouts say they've secured commitments from the White House on a variety of topics, especially on how the megabill is implemented. But House Republicans described the hours of talks as more of a venting session for the hard-liners.
'It was more just expression of concerns and priorities that are shared by the administration,' said one person granted anonymity to relay the conversations.
The holdouts said earlier Wednesday they were discussing future legislative opportunities, including a second reconciliation package, and the possibility of executive branch moves to address aspects of the bill they don't think go far enough.
There was some tough love, too. Several MAGA-world figures including long-time Trump aide Jason Miller and Trump's 2024 co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita threatened the Republican holdouts on social media. Trump, who'd been privately helping Johnson press them all day, piled on pressure in a series of increasingly irritated missives. 'RIDICULOUS!!!' he fired off at 12:45 a.m. as the bill was in limbo.
The mood among House Republicans is that they're likely to pass the bill later this morning.
'I do so deeply desire to have just [a] normal Congress, but it doesn't happen anymore,' Johnson said around 1:30 a.m. 'I don't want to make history, but we're forced into these situations.'
What else we're watching:
— New E&C subcommittee chair: Rep. Morgan Griffith is in line to be announced today as the next chair of the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee, according three people granted anonymity to discuss the plan. 'There's a good possibility,' E&C Chair Brett Guthrie said Wednesday when asked if Griffith would get the post. 'We're announcing tomorrow though.'
— Race for DHS chair: Rep. Carlos Gimenez has entered the race to lead the House Homeland Security Committee. After Rep. Mark Green announced his retirement, Gimenez sent a letter to the GOP Steering Committee on Tuesday notifying his intent to run for the seat.
David Lim, Bethany Irvine and Ali Bianco contributed to this report.
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