Following what appeared at the time to be a somewhat large defeat handed to MAGA by a collection of RINOs in the House Budget Committee, President Donald Trump and the MAGA movement he leads notched another victory, reversing that defeat by pushing the “beautiful” budget bill through the committee despite RINO non-compliance.
As background, the House Budget Committee first shut down the bill on the morning of Friday, May 16. President Trump was, as could be expected, furious over the betrayal. Further, many MAGA Americans online saw it as a repeat of his first term, where various small-time Republicans got in the way of delivering victories for the base.
Trump, for his part, sounded off over that initial defeat in a post on Truth Social. He noted that the bill would cut taxes for Americans, get illegal aliens of the Medicare rolls , and block tax raises from going into effect. Beginning, he said, “Republicans MUST UNITE behind, “THE ONE, BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL!” Not only does it cut Taxes for ALL Americans, but it will kick millions of Illegal Aliens off of Medicaid to PROTECT it for those who are the ones in real need. The Country will suffer greatly without this Legislation, with their Taxes going up 65%.”
He then noted that it is not political blame that matters, but rather what helps Americans, saying, “It will be blamed on the Democrats, but that doesn’t help our Voters. We don’t need “GRANDSTANDERS” in the Republican Party. STOP TALKING, AND GET IT DONE! It is time to fix the MESS that Biden and the Democrats gave us. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
That defeat was then reversed on Sunday night, when lawmakers on the key committee were summoned back to D.C. for a 10 pm meeting, and during it the Republicans pushed the “beautiful bill” through in a 17 to 16 vote in which the four RINOs that initially torpedoed the legislation merely voted “present.” Posting about that, Trump said, “CONGRATULATIONS REPUBLICANS!!! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”
Rep. Chip Roy, the lawmaker who supported DeSantis over Trump and has generally remained a critic of the president, explained why he and the other three backed down in a statement after that vote, noting that various green energy subsidies would be yanked now and work requirements would be added to Medicaid eligibility.
Beginning, he framed the vote as a victory, saying, “Tonight, after a great deal of work and engagement over the weekend, the Budget Committee advanced a reconciliation bill that lays the foundation for much needed tax relief, border security, and important spending reductions and reforms.”
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Continuing, he commented on what the two key spending cuts and reforms added to the “beautiful bill” so that it could pass through the House Budget Committee are, saying, “Importantly the bill now will move Medicaid work requirements forward and reduces the availability of future subsidies under the green new scam.”
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, for his part, said, “I think what is about to happen here is that every member, every Republican member, will give a vote that allows us to proceed forward, and we count that as a big win tonight.” He added that the initial RINO blocking of the bill hadn’t delayed it in any real way, saying, “I am absolutely convinced we’re going to get this in final form and pass it in accordance with our original deadline.”
Watch Johnson comment on the late night win here: