'Not what Johnson promised': House Freedom Caucus releases scathing memo against Trump’s bill

02 Jul 2025, 17:49 by https://www.facebook.com/17108852506 · AlterNet

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) gestures while speaking as Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who are leading U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's proposed new Department of Government Efficiency, meet with members of Congress, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S. December 5, 2024. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) gestures while speaking as Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who are leading U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's proposed new Department of Government Efficiency, meet with members of Congress, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S. December 5, 2024. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
Ailia Zehra
July 02, 2025 | 01:49PM ETThe Right Wing

A memo from the House Freedom Caucus Wednesday strongly criticized the GOP megabill passed by the Senate. The caucus's sharp criticism of the legislation comes as Republican leadership works to corral votes from conservative hard-liners for Wednesday's session.

This three-page document zeroes in on more than a dozen significant changes the Senate made to the bill after its May passage in the House, according to a report by Politico. Some alterations responded to Senate budget rules aimed at bypassing a Democratic filibuster.

The memo specifically highlights the revamped bill's ballooning deficit.

“The bill violates the House framework of $1 of tax cuts for $1 of spending cuts (with 2.6 percent economic growth), increases the deficit by $761 billion without interest and more $1.3 trillion with interest after changes were made in base text and a wrap-around amendment was adopted,” the memo says.

“This was not what Leader [John] Thune and Speaker [Mike] Johnson promised," it adds.

Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), who chairs the hard-line House Freedom Caucus, told reporters at the Capitol that he remained opposed to the Senate-passed "Big, Beautiful Bill." He called on President Donald Trump to order senators back to town for further negotiations.

“There’s a little work left to be done, but if the president calls the Senate back in town, we should be able to do it,” Harris said, according to Politico. He added: “I haven’t spoken to the president about it.”