House Republican leadership is racing to get enough GOP lawmakers on board to send President Donald Trump's megabill to his desk.
But Speaker Mike Johnson is facing potential attendance blems due to storms in the Washington area, in addition to stubborn resistance from a handful of his conference members.
Any changes to the House version of the bill would send it back to the Senate for apval, almost certainly blowing past Republicans' self-imposed July 4 deadline.
Watch now1:3801:38House to vote on key cedural measure for Trump's spending billPower LunchRepublican leaders in the House appeared to be running into blems Wednesday trying to corral enough votes to move President Donald Trump's marquee domestic policy package forward to a final vote.
As of 3:30 p. ET, the near-term fate of the megabill was uncertain, as both moderates and conservative hardliners pressed their leadership for changes to a Senate passed bill.
House Speaker Mike Johnson spent the day working to win over the hold-outs in his conference. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.
, indicated Wednesday after noon that there were still "bably 10 NO's at the moment" within the conference to Trump's megabill. Massie was one of two Republicans — along with Rep.
Warren Davidson of Ohio — who voted against Trump's bill in May, before the Senate implemented its own broad changes to the package.
With Massie and Davidson expected to defect again, Johnson can only lose one more vote and still pass the package on a party line vote, assuming every Republican member is present for the vote.
Thomas Massie, R-Ky. , talks with reporters before a House Republican Conference meeting with President Donald Trump on the budget reconciliation bill in the U. Capitol on Tuesday, May 20, 2025.
Tom Williams | Cq-roll Call, Inc.
| Getty ImagesIn a sign of the stalemate plaguing Johnson's conference, Republicans struggled to even garner enough votes to pass standard measures that are typically the easy part of passing a tough bill.
The House cannot begin voting on the rules that will govern final consideration of Trump's megabill — and, ultimately, the bill itself — until they agree on debate rules.
Every vote on a bill in the House has its own rules that need to be apved independently, after a separate, dedicated debate and a vote.
Read more CNBC coverageHouse Republicans race to pass Trump's megabill amid GOP divisionsHouse Republicans don't have the votes yet to pass Trump's megabillMurkowski cast crucial vote for Trump's megabill after getting key carveoutsHouse Republicans subpoena Brown University, Penn in Ivy League antitrust beTrump's megabill squeaks through Senate, but House can still reject changesMusk shreds Trump bill as 'DEBT SLAVERY,' vows to unseat Republicans who back itTrump rips AT&T service weeks after Trump Mobile licensing deal announcedTrump administration: Harvard violated civil rights of Jewish studentsWhite House says Canada 'caved' to Trump over digital services taxThe Senate squeaked out passage of its version of Trump's megabill on Tuesday, with Vice President JD Vance required to come in and cast the tie- vote.
Now lawmakers in the lower chamber must apve the Senate's revisions.
As Republicans stare down the self-imposed deadline to get the bill to Trump's desk, the White House is hosting several groups of House Republicans for talks Wednesday, including hardliners who have expressed continued opposition to the bill.
A group of Republican moderates was also seen entering the White House compound Wednesday morning, NBC News reports, in a sign of the evolving talks.
These Republicans, many of whom represent districts carried by Democrats in presidential elections, pose another potential challenge for Johnson in his quest to pass the megabill.
Several of them have already expressed reservations the Senate's cuts to Medicaid, which are even deeper than those originally passed in the House.
In May, Johnson was at least able to offer last-minute concessions to the skeptical members in his conference to get them on board.
Now, any last minute changes automatically would send the bill back to the Senate for another vote, which would make the self-imposed July 4 deadline nearly impossible to reach.
Potentially further complicating Johnson's ability to get his razor-thin majority on board are storms that hit the Washington area Tuesday night, causing widespread flight delays and cancellations, according to flight tracking site FlightAware.
Multiple members' flights were delayed or cancelled. This is news. Please check back for.