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Big, Beautiful Bill Clears the Rules Committee. Will House Freedom Caucus Support It on the Floor?

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  May 21, 2025 4:45 PM

This piece has been updated, including with a statement from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt as well as an update about the big, bill passing the House Rules Committee. 

On Wednesday afternoon, President Donald Trump met with members of the House Freedom Caucus (HFC) in order to solidify support for the "one big, beautiful bill" that the White House is looking to get passed. There's a particular kind of urgency, given that the White House and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) want a vote to happen before the Memorial Day weekend holiday. According to reporting from POLITICO, members of the speaker's leadership team "believe they will be able to force through a procedural vote and final passage of the megabill, with potentially three defections."

Several hours after that meeting, and almost 24-hours after the House Rules Committee first conveyed at 1:00am on Wednesday morning, the Committee passed the big, beautiful bill with a vote of 8-4. Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), a vocal member of the HFC, was notably absent from the final vote.

It does not appear that there a press gaggle took place after the meeting with Trump and HFC members, though the Trump White House did issue a statement. "The meeting was productive and moved the ball in the right direction. The President reiterated how critical it is for the country to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill as quickly as possible," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement for Townhall. 

According to CNN's Manu Raju, who mentioned changes to the bill, Johnson and his team still remain optimistic. 

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"The speaker and his team are confident their factions will fall and bill will pass by tomorrow AM," his post mentioned, speaking about a potential Thursday morning vote. 

Johnson was also sharing he was "very optimistic" earlier in the day about the bill, per a post from Fox News' Chad Pergram shared  around the same time that HFC members and Trump were meeting. Also around that same time, Pergram shared his video report. 

The clip included comments from Roy, who made clear that he would work with his colleagues and the president, "to deliver but there's a long way to go," stressing, "we've got to deliver on what we're talking about or we're not going to be able to get the bill done." During "The Story with Martha MacCallum," host Martha MacCallum spoke about a desire for the HFC to see cuts made. That being said, Trump has indicated to members, "don't f**k around with Medicaid." The bill also looks to cut $1.5 trillion in federal spending cuts and expand the Trump tax cuts from 2017.

Pergram phrased the latest moves as "a pressure campaign to prod reluctant members to get in line," with the White House framing it as "the ultimate betrayal" if it doesn't pass, and with Trump wanting to sign this specific version.

Pergram also later spoke to how House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) has explained such a timeline, though he can't say for certain when exactly the vote will be just yet, though he still sounded confident.

Wednesday's meeting comes as Trump met with HFC members on Tuesday night, with indications that there had been some progress, though more was still needed to reach a deal.

The president had also been on Capitol Hill earlier on Tuesday to push Republicans to unify in supporting the bill. 

As POLITICO also mentioned on the timing:

Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, who leads the House Freedom Caucus, said the holdouts had “accepted the White House’s offer last night,” referring to a handshake deal to speed up Medicaid work requirements and the phase-out of Inflation Reduction Act tax credits, but then said their concerns had been “inadequately” addressed by House GOP leadership. He cast doubt on passage of the bill Wednesday.

“This is a completely arbitrary deadline set by people here to force people into a corner to make bad decisions,” he said.

Another key holdout, Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, cited “progress” but said “there’s a long way to go.”

But top Republican leaders and President Donald Trump, whose policy agenda is embedded in the roughly 1,100-word bill, are in no mood to wait. They have grown frustrated, the senior Republicans said, that the ultraconservatives have shifted their demands after closing in on a deal late Tuesday evening.

The bill has also already gone through many committees, with the House Rules Committee beginning their meeting at 1:00am on Wednesday morning. "Rules Committee" has been trending on X throughout Wednesday. Roy is not only a key member of the HFC with these negotiations, but a member of the Committee.

The congressman has been posting and reposting his concerns throughout Wednesday from his X account, though his official account also previewed the meeting with Trump. 

Earlier on Wednesday, hours before the meeting and before he met with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Trump also indicated that "we're close."

The White House has also released a "Statement of Administration Policy," reminding how it "implements critical aspects of President Trump's budgetary agenda by delivering bigger paychecks for Americans, driving massive economic growth, unleashing American energy, strengthening border security and national defense, preserving key safety net programs for Americans who need them, while ending waste, fraud, and abuse in Federal spending, and much more."

As Trump and Johnson have also been reminding, this bill speaks to Trump's campaign promises. "The One Big Beautiful Act reflects the shared priorities of both Congress and the Administration. Therefore, the House of Representatives should immediately pass this bill to show the American people that they are serious about 'promises made, promises kept.' President Trump is committed to keeping his promises, and failure to pass this bill would be the ultimate betrayal," it also mentioned in conclusion, echoing those remarks Pegram had referenced.

The president and HFC have also spoken positively of one another, including with a post from the HFC on Tuesday indicating as much. 

In expressing their "love" for Trump, the HFC had been putting out a quoted repost of comments from The Wall Street Journal's Olivia Beavers. "I love the Freedom Caucus. Please leave them alone. Freedom Caucus are my guys," Trump had said when addressing Medicaid, per a source.