Massie: We Don't Have Time to Read 'Big Beautiful Bill'

Republican leaders are pushing for a House floor vote late Wednesday or early Thursday on President Trump's "big beautiful bill" of tax cuts—but one of the GOP holdouts say they haven't even been given time to read. "Major provisions of the big beautiful bill are still being negotiated and written, yet we are being told we will vote on it today," Rep. Thomas Massie said in a post on X. "Shouldn't we take more than a few hours to read a bill this big and this consequential?" The House Rules Committee has been debating the legislation since 1am in what the Hill calls a "purgatorial cycle"—it hasn't been possible to wrap up debate on the bill and send it to a vote because lawmakers keep adding last-minute changes.

Trump has dismissed Massie as a "grandstander" who "doesn't understand government," but he's not the only holdout. GOP Rep. John Rose sided with deficit hawks Wednesday, objecting to a provision to raise the state and local tax—SALT—deduction, Politico reports. It was added to get moderate Republicans from blue states on board with the bill. "Raising the SALT deduction is a bailout for Democrat Governors—paid for by red states with low taxes," Rose said in a post on X. "Tennesseans should not foot the bill for New York and California's mismanagement." Rose's opposition came as a surprise, since he is not a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus and hasn't raised objections to the bill before, Politico notes.

Members of the Freedom Caucus spoke with Trump on Wednesday in a meeting that White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said "was productive and moved the ball in the right direction," the AP reports. One caucus member, Rep. Andrew Ogles, later said the bill still didn't have enough votes to pass, reports the Washington Post. The GOP can only afford to lose three votes. In a statement Wednesday, White House officials urged Congress to pass the bill "immediately," per the New York Times, saying Trump "is committed to keeping his promises, and failure to pass this bill would be the ultimate betrayal." In a look at what's in the 1,116-page bill USA Today found that high earners would benefit the most, while those earning under $50,000 would lose an average of $700 a year. (More House Republicans stories.)