Republicans tee up House vote on Trump bill, outcome uncertain

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Republicans in the House of Representatives on Wednesday teed up a procedural vote on President Donald Trump's massive tax-cut and spending bill that could reveal whether the party has enough support to pass it out of Congress.

With only three votes to spare, it was not clear whether Republicans would be able to resolve the concerns of a handful of members who have threatened to vote against the legislation. A procedural vote was set for early afternoon, with a vote on final passage possible later in the day. That timetable could slip if House Speaker Mike Johnson is not able to secure enough votes to pass the measure.

Republicans who control the House 220-212 have struggled to stay united in recent years, but they also have not defied Trump since he returned to the White House in January.

The legislation contains most of Trump's top domestic priorities, from tax cuts to immigration enforcement, and he has urged lawmakers to get it to his desk to sign into law by the July 4 Independence Day holiday. Johnson has promised to meet that deadline.

The Senate passed the legislation, which nonpartisan analysts say will add $3.4 trillion to the nation's debt over the next decade, by the narrowest possible margin on Tuesday after intense debate on the bill's hefty price tag and substantial cuts to the Medicaid healthcare program.

Similar divides exist in the House, which passed an earlier version of the bill in May that carried a lower price tag. The loudest objections come from hardline conservatives angry that it does not sufficiently cut spending.

"What the Senate did was unconscionable," said Republican Representative Ralph Norman of South Carolina, one of two hardliners who voted against the bill in an overnight committee hearing. 

Representative Chip Roy of Texas, who provided the other 'no' vote in committee, predicted the procedural vote would fall short. “As of right now, there aren’t the votes," he said.

TAX CUTS, IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN

The bill would extend Trump's 2017 tax cuts, cut health and food safety net programs, fund Trump's immigration crackdown, and zero out many green-energy incentives. It also includes a $5 trillion increase in the nation's debt ceiling, which lawmakers must address in the coming months or risk a devastating default on the nation's $36.2 trillion debt.

Trump kept up the pressure on Wednesday.

"Republicans, don’t let the Radical Left Democrats push you around. We’ve got all the cards, and we are going to use them," Trump said in a social media post.

Democrats are united in opposition to the bill, saying that its tax breaks disproportionately benefit the wealthy while cutting services that lower- and middle-income Americans rely on. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that almost 12 million people could lose health insurance as a result of the bill. 

"This is the largest assault on American healthcare in history," Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters on Tuesday, pledging that his party will use "all procedural and legislative options" to try to stop - or delay - passage.

The bill includes more than $900 million in cuts to the Medicaid program for low-income Americans.

Those cuts have also raised concerns among some House Republicans.

But some House Republicans worried about social safety-net cuts could find solace in the Senate's last-minute decision to set aside more money for rural hospitals, funding Representative Nick Langworthy, a New York Republican, called “a lifeline that will be very helpful to districts like mine.”

Any changes made by the House would require another Senate vote, making it all but impossible to meet the July 4 deadline.

(Reporting by Bo Erickson, Richard Cowan, David Morgan, additional reporting by Nandita Bose; Writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Scott Malone, Cynthia Osterman, Mark Porter and Chizu Nomiyama )