Top House Republicans are warning the Senate to proceed carefully with any possible changes to President Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill.’
‘We in the House don’t want to see this changed too much. Of course, they’re going to put their mark on it, and they’re going to shape it and hopefully make it better, But, yeah, it just can’t change materially too much for us to have to thread that needle again,’ said Republican Study Committee (RSC) Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas.
He hosted House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, on an episode of the RSC’s podcast, ‘Right To The Point,’ an early copy of which was obtained by Fox News Digital.
Arrington told Pfluger, ‘The reality is, we struck a very difficult and very, very delicate balance in the House that could be disrupted on any number of policy fronts, if the Senate were to go too far.’
The RSC is a 189-strong member group in the House GOP that acts as the conference’s de facto conservative think tank.
Arrington’s committee, meanwhile, plays a central role in the budget reconciliation process – which is what Republicans are using to pass Trump’s agenda on tax, immigration, energy, defense, and the national debt in one massive bill.
It’s notable that they used the RSC’s weekly podcast to send a pointed message to their colleagues in the Senate, which comes as lawmakers there wrestle with key issues in the House’s version of the bill.
Senate Republicans still have to deal with unresolved questions on Medicaid and state and local tax (SALT) deductions, among other items.
Senate GOP leaders have said their changes to the bill are critical in order for it to survive their razor-thin majority of three seats – the same margin as the House holds.
The House passed its version of the bill by just one vote in late May. Now, different House GOP factions are warning that they will not accept the Senate’s proposed changes on a number of key issues.
‘If you and I had the pen, and it was just between two West Texans, I know there are deeper, deeper fiscal reforms that would bend the curve even more dramatically on our spending and debt to GDP. But we have other members that we have to negotiate with,’ Arrington said.
‘So yes, make it as good as you can make in terms of improvements, but there is a point at which you will, instead of bend, you will break the delicate balance, and you will imperil the most important and most consequential bill – with the greatest set of conservative reforms in my lifetime, if not 100 years.’
When reached for comment on Arrington’s remark, Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s office pointed Fox News Digital to the South Dakota Republican’s appearance on the Hugh Hewitt show Wednesday.
‘I met with [House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.] yesterday, and we’ve talked several times today already, just checking in on various aspects of the Senate bill and, you know, what the prospects are when it gets to the House,’ Thune said. ‘So there’s been a lot of coordination from the very beginning about this and that, you know, continues to this day, which is why we continue to stay in close contact.’
Johnson, Thune and the White House have been in near-constant communication, hammering out details big and small in the bill.
Pfluger said he was still ‘hopeful,’ however, about Republicans’ self-imposed July 4 deadline.
‘The Senate is wrestling with this bill right now…to make the changes that make it better, but to send it back to us in a fiscally disciplined way, where we know we still garner the savings where we do the right things to put money back into American families pockets,’ Pfluger said.
Johnson told reporters on Friday that it was ‘possible’ that the deadline could slip, but said he ‘doesn’t want to accept that as an option right now.’
Fox News Digital’s Alex Miller contributed to this report