House Speaker Mike Johnson pledges to deliver Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill by July 4, despite GOP holdouts and growing criticism. Here’s what he said and what’s next.
A Handful of G.O.P. Holdouts Are Keeping Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill From Moving Forward—What’s Next?
Despite gaining Senate approval, Donald Trump’s sweeping legislative proposal, known as the “Big Beautiful Bill,” is currently stalled in the House of Representatives—and the cause isn’t Democratic opposition. The biggest barrier to the bill’s progress is a small number of Republican skeptics.
Who’s Holding It Up?
At least five Republican members of the House have broken ranks with their party, refusing to support a procedural vote that would allow the bill to advance to a full floor vote. Among the dissenters are members of the Freedom Caucus and some moderate Republicans concerned about different aspects of the legislation, such as
Deficit expansion projected at over $3 trillion in 10 years
Deep cuts to social welfare programs, especially Medicaid and SNAP
The bill’s sheer size and fast-tracked timeline
In a chamber where Republicans hold a narrow majority, just a few defections are enough to derail the process.
What’s Inside the Bill?
The Big Beautiful Bill is a comprehensive law that contains the following:
Immigration enforcement measures
Trade protection policies
Tax code changes
Federal spending realignments
Cuts to several entitlement programs
It is designed to represent Trump’s entire domestic agenda in one package. That scale is part of the problem—some Republicans prefer a piecemeal approach, while others fear the backlash from constituents affected by social program reductions.
What Happens Next?
House Speaker Mike Johnson is under pressure to reintroduce the procedural vote, known as the “rule vote,” which must pass before the bill can be formally debated. So far, backroom negotiations have not convinced the holdouts to fall in line.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump is actively involved—placing calls, meeting with lawmakers, and rallying support both behind closed doors and publicly. He may miss his self-imposed July 4 deadline to pass the Big Beautiful Bill.
If leadership can persuade at least three of the five holdouts, the bill could still move forward this week. If not, Republicans might:
Rewrite parts of the measure to make the more contentious parts less harsh.
Divide the bill into smaller sections for separate voting.
Push the vote past the holiday recess, which Trump wants to avoid
Will the Big Beautiful Bill Eventually Pass?
That depends on how much compromise Republican leadership is willing to make and whether Trump’s influence can outweigh policy disagreements. While some lawmakers are holding out for ideological reasons, others may be using this as leverage to get changes included in the final draft.
But for now, a small faction within the GOP is holding all the cards, and the fate of Trump’s landmark legislation is uncertain.
