Speaker Mike Johnson abruptly pulled a key House vote on a budget framework tied to former President Donald Trump's tax and spending agenda Wednesday evening, triggering renewed internal GOP discord and underscoring the persistent challenge Republican leaders face in corralling their fractured conference.
The vote delay came amid sharp resistance from House conservatives who balked at advancing the Senate's version of the legislation, which contains far fewer spending cuts than the House's original budget passed in February. Speaker Johnson told reporters he aimed to reschedule the vote for Thursday, the last planned session day before a two-week recess, but admitted that timing remained uncertain.
"I don't think we'll have a vote on this tonight, but probably in the morning," Johnson said. "We want everybody to have a high degree of comfort about what is happening here... maybe going to conference with the Senate or add an amendment, but we're going to make that decision."
The House version calls for at least $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, while the Senate's plan includes just $4 billion. The sharp discrepancy has galvanized opposition from fiscal hawks and ignited familiar tensions within the House Republican Conference, leaving the speaker to weigh his options under increasing scrutiny from all sides.
The vote's cancellation sparked immediate backlash from GOP members. "It's incredibly sad, disappointing and embarrassing that once again we've pulled another piece of legislation off the floor, and it just shows how ineffective the speaker is at his job," said one House Republican, speaking anonymously.
Frustrations boiled over during a stalled floor vote earlier in the day as Johnson huddled with holdouts behind closed doors. "I think he's quickly losing faith from the rest of us," another Republican told Fox News Digital. "All day it was like, 'Oh, we're going to get this done.' But 17, 20 people were in that room. So clearly there was a much bigger problem."
Trump, who has pushed for Republicans to pass "one big, beautiful bill" that includes sweeping changes to taxes, border security, energy policy, and defense spending, has been closely watching the vote and lobbying members directly. He met with lawmakers at the White House on Tuesday and posted on Truth Social: "Republicans, it is more important now, than ever, that we pass THE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL. The USA will Soar like never before!!!"
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., argued the plan would deliver significant savings while implementing key parts of Trump's platform. "Why does President Trump call it one big, beautiful bill? Because it does a lot of critically important things... and it produces incredibly needed savings," Scalise said on the House floor.
The legislation would extend Trump's 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, increase funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, repeal major portions of President Biden's green energy initiatives, and introduce new tax breaks such as eliminating taxes on tips and overtime wages. But without identical versions passed by both chambers, the reconciliation framework cannot move forward.
Some Republicans are also concerned that GOP leaders are using a policy baseline that allows the extension of existing tax cuts without accounting for their full cost. "We've got to have something more substantive out of the Senate," said Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn. "If you were going to sell your house, and I offered you a third of the price, you would laugh."
