Trump's 'One, Big, Beautiful Bill' clears first hurdle in the House of Representatives

Donald Trump's "One, Big, Beautiful Bill" cleared its first hurdle in the House of Representatives following a weekend of intense negotiations with four rebel Republican lawmakers. The Budget Committee, convened at 10 p.m. on Sunday, approved the "slightly modified" text after the dissenting members held a closed-door meeting with House Speaker Mike Johnson.

The bill must now pass the Rules Committee, the step prior to discussion on the floor. There it is awaited again by Chip Roy and Ralph Norman, two of the four rebel deputies. Roy himself remained in Washington all weekend negotiating with the White House team until the minimum agreement that allowed the rule to take a step forward.

Speaker Johnson went into the room where the committee members were being seen to meet behind closed doors with the hard-wing congressmen to break the deadlock. Finally, at the time of the vote, the text saved the passage by 17 votes to 16 with four conservative suffrages with "present."

"The bill does not yet meet the moment"

After the vote, Roy issued a statement explaining the key factors that allowed the bill to continue its legislative process:

"Tonight, after a great deal of work and engagement over the weekend, the Budget Committee advanced a reconciliation bill that lays the foundation for much needed tax relief, border security, and important spending reductions and reforms. Importantly the bill now will move Medicaid work requirements forward and reduces the availability of future subsidies under the green new scam."

Opposition calls for more Medicaid tweaks and actual dismantling of New Green Deal

However, the Texan representative warns that it’s far from over, saying, “I joined with three of my colleagues to vote ‘present’ out of respect for the Republican Conference and the President to move the bill forward. It gives us the opportunity to work together this week to get the job done.”

According to Roy, "the bill does not yet meet the moment – leaving almost half of the green new scam subsidies continuing. More, it fails to end the Medicaid money laundering scam and perverse funding structure that provides seven times more federal dollars for each dollar of state spending for the able-bodied relative to the vulnerable. This all ultimately increases the likelihood of continuing deficits and non-Obamacare-expansion states like Texas expanding in the future. We can and must do better before we pass the final product."