Trump: GOP was ‘one heart attack away from losing the House’ majority

Trump briefly spoke with reporters on the Hill before delivering remarks in support of the bill to the full House Republican Conference, claiming that the GOP had been “one heart attack away from losing the House” due to earlier slimmer majorities before the Florida special House elections.

Now, with two Democratic vacancies due to the deaths of Reps. Sylvester Turner (D-TX) and Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Republicans have a 220-213 advantage, meaning Johnson can afford to lose just three votes to pass legislation along party lines.

“We’re going to have a bill, the One Big, Beautiful Bill. I think it’s going to be the biggest bill ever passed, and we got to get it done,” he stated, noting that a few Republican maybes will “grandstand” before final votes, even if failing to extend his 2017 tax cuts would result in a tax increase on more than two-thirds of households.

“Look, the alternative is a 68% tax increase, and you can blame the Democrats for that, and one or two grandstanders,” the president said. “Or, you’ll get a massive tax increase — you’ll get a tax cut the likes of which we’ve never had before. This is bigger than any Ronald Reagan tax cut.”

Trump declared that any GOP lawmakers voting against the bill “wouldn’t be a Republican for much longer. They would be knocked out so fast.”

“I’m a cheerleader for this party, and I’m a cheerleader for the country — much more importantly for the country — but I’m a cheerleader for the party, and we’re going to go up, and I think we’re going to have a very good discussion,” he explained.

Trump singled out Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), a fiscal conservative who traditionally votes no on spending matters, saying he “should be voted out of office.” Massie opposes Trump’s bill.

National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Richard Hudson (R-NC) said the House GOP’s campaign arm will stick to its longstanding policy of not spending money in primary elections, meaning they won’t rescue incumbents facing possible Trump-backed challengers.

“We don’t do primaries,” Hudson told Axios.

Trump’s beefed-up tax cuts mark Republicans’ first true legislative test of the president’s second term in office, but Johnson has been saddled with wrangling opposing wings of the Republican Party, one that wants to see more deficit reducing measures included in the bill and the other is pushing for boosted tax benefits for their own constituencies.

And though the bill has been slow-rolled through the early months of Trump’s term, the president praised the speaker Tuesday morning.

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“I’m his biggest fan. I love this guy,” he declared, standing shoulder to shoulder with Johnson. “I don’t think there’s anybody that’s more well-suited to be speaker of the House, especially in a case like this.”