Trump's ‘Big Beautiful Bill' blitz: Carrots, sticks — and a July 4 victory

Politico

13 hours ago

Minutes later, House members were told they would soon move forward with a rule vote needed to advance the legislation. Both were the byproducts of an agreement between Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson that it was time to move the bill forward even as they pressed holdouts, according to the second White House official.
Trump kept close watch on the board as votes rolled in, calling senior staff for updates and asking them who he needed to call. At one point, Johnson got him on the phone with a group of holdouts, and Trump was adamant about pressing forward Wednesday night to deliver the vote, the official added.
'We called the rule because we knew we would have the votes but that we would have to grind out the right flanks,' the official said.
The White House used the threat of primaries — echoed publicly by the president on social media — to pressure holdouts into backing the measure. Last week's announcement that Trump's political operation has built a $1.4 billion war chest ahead of the midterm elections was 'no coincidence,' the first White House official said.
The White House also used recent events — including the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, getting Canada to back off of a new tax on American technology companies and the promise of imminent trade deals — to create a sense of momentum and an image of the president as an unstoppable force, daring Republicans to get in his way. White House aides and allies said that Republican members would have looked particularly bad stalling the legislation as the president heads to Iowa Thursday evening to kick off a yearlong celebration of the country's 250th anniversary.
But Trump and his advisers also offered carrots to GOP holdouts, including promises to the House Freedom Caucus to re-enforce what's in the text with executive orders, according to four people with knowledge of the discussions.
'There are provisions in the law that will be supercharged or strengthened from administrative action,' said one of the people, who is close to both the White House and Hill Republicans.
White House aides and allies are drawing a sharp contrast between the bill's passage and the way things played out in 2017, when Republicans failed to repeal Obamacare. In particular, they credit Blair for coordinating the White House's political and legislative affairs teams for maneuvering the bill through.