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Donald Trump has cancelled a trip to New Jersey in a last gasp effort to persuade Congress to pass his landmark tax and spending bill by his July 4 deadline.
The president had been due to end the week at his golf club in New Jersey but will instead remain in Washington to lobby Senate lawmakers to pass the so-called “big, beautiful” bill, according to a White House official.
“The president is adamant about seeing this bill on his desk here at the White House by Independence Day,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday.
Trump’s final effort to push the legislation through Congress by his self-imposed deadline comes as the bill has faced an uphill slog in the Senate, especially from fiscal hawks concerned about its impact on US debt levels.
“To my friends in the Senate, lock yourself in a room if you must, don’t go home, and GET THE DEAL DONE THIS WEEK,” the president posted on his Truth Social network on Tuesday. “NO ONE GOES ON VACATION UNTIL IT’S DONE.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune is planning to hold a vote as soon as Saturday, according to a person familiar with the plans.
The House of Representatives passed its own version of the legislation last month, but must approve any changes made by the Senate for it to become law. Some House members have objected to alterations made by the upper chamber, further complicating its passage.
The bill, which is the president’s top legislative priority, would extend many of the tax cuts he introduced in 2017. But lawmakers have expressed unease that it would increase debt levels and slash funding for healthcare and welfare services.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has said the bill will swell budget deficits levels by $2.4bn over the next decade, pushing federal debt levels beyond their previous world war two high.
Over the past week the administration has made various efforts to get the bill over the line by the president’s deadline. Trump sought to tout its advantages to working Americans — including clauses aimed at scrapping taxes on tips and overtime pay — at a White House event on Thursday.
The White House Council of Economic advisers released a report on Wednesday arguing the legislation would not increase debt levels in an attempt to win over those Senate fiscal hawks who have threatened to withhold support.
Republicans hold a majority of 53-47 in the US Senate and are hoping to pass the bill with a simple majority using a special process for tax and spending legislation. Most legislation requires 60 votes to pass the chamber.
Yet the bill ran into difficulty this week when the Senate parliamentarian ruled that elements of the proposed text — including many of the planned cuts to Medicaid, the government health insurance programme for people on low incomes — were prohibited under this mechanism.
