After House Republican leaders insisted they were charging full steam ahead to advance the Senate-passed reconciliation bill, floor action slowed to a halt Wednesday, with Speaker Mike Johnson and President Donald Trump struggling to win over holdouts to even put the bill on the floor.
Leadership scheduled a procedural vote to advance the bill Wednesday afternoon. But after some members couldn’t get to the Capitol over travel delays — and some other Republicans appeared committed to voting down the reconciliation bill — Republicans left the House floor with no clear plan.
After leaving two previous votes open for over two hours, lawmakers headed back to their offices a little after 3 p.m. Majority Leader Steve Scalise told reporters that he was waiting on a few straggling Republican members to return to the Capitol Building “within the next hour” to bring lawmakers back to the floor.