In classic form and with a shot of urgency, President Donald Trump took the stage at Tuesday’s NRCC dinner in Washington, D.C., wielding sharp words, populist fire, and a unified demand to House Republicans: stop grandstanding and pass the budget plan. The speech wasn’t just a dinner chat — it was a political call to arms aimed squarely at conservative holdouts threatening to derail what Trump is calling his “one big, beautiful bill.”
“Get the damn thing done and stop showboating,” Trump said, signaling his growing impatience with members of his own party.
The pressure comes as the GOP works to finalize an amended budget reconciliation framework passed by the Senate. The bill would extend the 2017 Trump tax cuts, raise the debt ceiling by $5 trillion, and ramp up border and defense spending — a Trump-era cocktail of supply-side economics and nationalist priorities.
While the Senate’s version trims back the House’s more ambitious spending reductions, the framework is still a major vehicle for Trump’s economic agenda. Under reconciliation rules, the Senate only needs 51 votes to pass the bill, bypassing the filibuster — but it still must survive a vote in the House, where the GOP holds a narrow 220-213 majority.
Trump tells Republicans to ‘close their eyes and stop grandstanding’ and vote for his budget bill pic.twitter.com/eUm3ucv8DF
— FactPost (@factpostnews) April 9, 2025
And that’s where the firestorm lies. Despite Trump’s plea, conservative House Republicans aren’t falling in line.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) questioned the very foundation of the Senate deal, saying, “Why am I voting on a budget based on promises that I don’t believe are going to materialize?” Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) echoed that skepticism, predicting that the “no” votes could balloon from 30 to 50, a fatal blow in a chamber with razor-thin margins.
Ogles warned, “It’s nowhere close.”
These rebels want deeper spending cuts and are frustrated that the Senate, citing the Byrd Rule, stripped out non-budgetary items — including some of Trump’s priorities. Now, they’re signaling that without stronger fiscal discipline, they may tank the whole effort.
Trump, meanwhile, isn’t in the mood for procedural purism or ideological protests. In his NRCC remarks, he made it clear: get in line or risk blowing it all.
“A couple of people want to — ‘sir, we got to get a little bit more.’ A little bit more? You know what you’re going to get? Nothing. You end up getting a Democrat bill or worse.”
Trump wants speed. He wants unity. And he wants his signature policies — massive tax cuts, trillions in capital repatriation, and his Liberation Day tariffs — moving forward without internal sabotage.
He also mocked Republicans trying to restrict his tariff authority, warning them they were interfering with a winning formula. “Congress takes over negotiating — sell America fast because you’re going to go busted.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson tried to calm the waters, insisting that the framework remains faithful to the House-passed version and urging his colleagues to avoid a damaging internal clash. “We’re actually going to do it this time,” Johnson said, painting a picture of rare GOP unity.
But it’s clear that Trump — not Johnson — is the one trying to hold this fragile coalition together with charisma and pressure. The president knows that delay, division, or defeat could embolden Democrats and sap momentum from his 2025 legislative strategy.
