We're in the interlude between the Kentucky Derby and Prekness.
The sovereignty of the Derby champion will not run in Preakness in Baltimore.
But House Republicans didn't skip trying to complete the big and beautiful bill. And, if it's a horse race, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.
"Don't doubt us. We'll get the job done," Johnson said of plans to renew tax cuts and spending cuts.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-la. They are all next to the U.S. Capitol. (Getty Image)
House Republicans are not the teenage girls here. But the morning line may indicate that House Republicans will lose in this raffle.
Like the Triple Crown, this legislative tournament also has three steps. Republicans are now heading to the last stop of the legislative delta.
This is the photo completed in February, when House Republicans have little framework for tax cuts and spending cuts. House Republican leaders seemed to make the vote a late scratch-member—members fled the Capitol and only recalled them to the House after a moment. The Republican leader's brass supported the plan, and the House passed it.
In April, House Republicans tried to align with the Senate on its version of the blueprint. Republicans managed to cross the finish line through the nose 216-214. Flip a vote and that will lead to a draw. The vote of the tie would have sent a big and beautiful bill to a big and beautiful ranch.
House Republicans have only received some of the Conservative commitments from the money in the Senate framework.
However, House Republicans were hardly involved in the competition when actually completing this version of the bill.
Debate on issues that the Republican Party should address in the bill. Paragraphs depend on what comes in and out.
“Everyone has to give the provision of salt, including the provision of salt,” said Rep. Ralph Norman. “There is a medium of joy that must satisfy the cuts.”
Moderate Republicans from high-tax countries like New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey will demand deductions to ensure their votes on the entire plan. Norman noted that before the finish line, “every state has to suffer some pain.”
"We will find a balance point on salt that no one will feel completely satisfied," Johnson said. "But it will solve the equation and we will complete it."
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“We are in a great place because it not only involves deductions of salt, so, like the people I represent on Staten Island and Brooklyn, because our mayor and our governor have been putting us in trouble with high taxes,” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis said.
President Trump also insists that lawmakers are included in the bill.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-la responded: “No taxes are required.
But all the toughest decisions revolve around changes (or cuts) in the rights plan. Republicans revolve around the idea that they can save up to $550 billion from waste and fraud over a decade. But there is evidence that the numbers are significantly lower. Republicans disagree.
"Some of the information we found suggests that (incorrect payment numbers) is much higher," Johnson said. "We will try to eliminate that. I think we should attribute it to the taxpayer."
But the Democrats didn't buy it.
DN.Y. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries spoke at a press conference at the Capitol in Washington on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (AP Photo /J. ScottApplewhite)
“They lied to the American people,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said.
Democrats argue that Republicans may cook books to cover the cost of tax breaks and to fill possible loopholes in the deficit.
“They will make up for any number they want,” said Rep. Frank Pallone. “They know they can’t reach those numbers.”
One of the expected ones in the bill: a significant increase in debt ceiling.
“When is the X date?” House Secretary Scott Bessent asked Rep. Steve Womack during a hearing on the Housing Appropriations Subcommittee.
"X Date" refers to when the federal government exhausts its ability to assume its obligations.
"As an outfielder running the fly ball, we are on the warning track. When you are on the warning track, it means the wall is not far away," Bessent replied.
Or, along the side track.
But Bessent added that the government "will not default".
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Members of the council roasted cabinet members on members of the trimming department at a hearing this week. That was the case when Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins appeared before the Senate panel.
"You are taking the method of a meat-cutter. There is an old saying. Measure twice. Cut once. You've been cutting without measurement."
Collins replied: “I haven’t cut anything yet.”
The secretary added that there is a "target" to reorganize his department and lay off a lot of jobs.
"Do you want to achieve your goal?" Hassan asked.
Collins replied: "The goal is not the fact."
Agricultural Secretary Brooke Rollins also found himself testifying in an effort to narrow the department in another Senate panel. She admits that a slim government is hard.
"Are we doing a great job? No. Any type of scale change and huge effort is basically difficult to readjust the entire government agency," Rollins said.
Democrats warn that Republicans will approve a day of deep cuts.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent held a home appropriation subcommittee and government hearing on Tuesday, May 6, 2025. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"Every Republican who votes for settlement and has a bad budget will have that hot potato hidden," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
A conservative told Fox that they think it would be "easy" to pass the bill compared to the other two rounds. Another conservative and a moderate Republican think it will be more difficult. Harder.
The best gamblers know that it is best to quit smoking when you move forward. House Republicans managed to win the first two rounds. One argument is that they have motivation. Horse riding will tell you that the odds are unfavorable.
But this is Capitol Hill. And you never know how things will change.
Mike Johnson and the Republicans have no choice. They assured the public that they would pass the bill. President Trump expects this. No other choice.
Pacing is everything about riding a horse. A great jockey knows how to coax their horsepower in the right minute. When will you give them a whip?
We're watching you, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn.
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So the crowd was roaring. The hooves are thundering. Mud and dirt are flying. The housekeeper is watching.
Johnson believes that the goal of passing the package before Memorial Day did not reach the distance. But Republicans are trying to take a very complex bill to take a very complicated bill. It's like running on a sloppy track. Republicans quickly rush into the homestead.
The next few weeks will be a crazy journey.