House GOP infighting holds up key vote on Trump tax bill

Negotiations in the U.S. House reached a stalemate on Wednesday over President Donald Trump's megabill, as numerous Republican lawmakers appeared dug in on their opposition to the tax-and-spending package.

As of 5:00 p.m. 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.

Republican leaders in the House have been unable to corral enough votes to move Trump's marquee domestic policy package forward to a final vote.

House Speaker Mike Johnson spent the day working to win over the hold-outs in his conference. But Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., indicated Wednesday afternoon that there were still "probably 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.

In a sign of the impasse 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 approved independently, after a separate, dedicated debate and a vote.

Just before 5 p.m. ET on Wednesday, there was no indication that the procedural votes were due to resume.

As Republicans stare down a self-imposed July 4 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, including lawmakers from battleground North Carolina, have already expressed reservations about the Senate's cuts to Medicaid, which are even deeper than those originally passed in the House.

In a further sign of the White House intervening to get hold-outs across the finish line, Russ Vought, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, also descended on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to meet with hold-outs.

The 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-breaking vote. Now lawmakers in the lower chamber must approve the Senate's revisions.

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 developing news. Please check back for updates.