‘Master Dealmaker’: How Trump Secured a Budget Bill Win Despite House GOP Revolt

The House Republican leadership was preparing to lose on Tuesday night after they had to cancel a vote that would have served as the framework for an enormous bill that would advance President Donald Trump’s agenda.

Minutes later, however, an astonishing turn of events sent lawmakers back into the almost empty House chamber. The GOP celebrated their narrow victory shortly afterward. With only one Republican voting against the resolution, it was adopted by a vote of 217 to 215.

This was in stark contrast to the hours before when Reps. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn. ), Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) all indicated that they were against the bill.

In the days that have passed since, several people said they credit Trump for getting the bill through. We previously reported that Trump spoke with Burchett as well as Spartz for a long time on Tuesday.

A person familiar with the conversation said that Trump spoke with Burchett on Tuesday for about 15 to 20 minutes, and the talk was friendly.

Spartz was seen later on the phone during a vote in the House Chamber.

A source stated that Spartz asked to talk to Trump to approve the bill and ended up making two phone calls. Spartz refused to reveal how many conversations she’d had with Trump. She also denied that Trump had shouted at her on the phone, as reported by Puck News.

Spartz stated, “It is a total lie.”

The third source also credited House Minority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) with helping Spartz get over the finish line.

The source claimed that “things became very emotional” in the House as the leaders concentrated their attention on Spartz.

Tom was able to convince Victoria that all was well. The source stated that Tom knows exactly what to say.

But the earlier, unrelated vote had been held open for 45 minutes past its 15-minute window, and lawmakers were getting testy at being kept in limbo. A vote that was meant to be third in the series was second instead and had also wrapped up.

Three Democrats, all of whom had missed the votes earlier that day, returned with a dramatic show — Rep. Britt Pettersen (D-Colo.), who was holding her infant, Rep. Kevin Mullin (D-Calif.) who was using a walking aid after undergoing knee surgery, and Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.), who returned to vote earlier — before Republicans realized they only needed one GOP legislator to pass the legislation.

Spartz was convinced. She told House Republican Leaders that she would vote for the resolution the following day if it was put up to a vote.

The GOP leadership decided to have the House vote immediately, rather than delay it for another day.

The Democrats were angry and sent the following message to themselves: “House Republicans try to ram through their Budget Resolution, after assuring House Democrats there wouldn’t be any further votes tonight.”

The vote resumed ten minutes later, and both parties rushed back into the House Chamber.

Burchett and Spartz voted in favor of the bill. Davidson said he voted yes because he received assurances about the deadline of March 14, when funding for the government must be approved.

“I finally voted… after I got the assurances that I needed, there would be cuts in discretionary expenditure,” Davidson said to reporters, “And, you know… everything is avoided.”

A GOP legislator said that Trump saved the bill by convincing Burchett, Spartz, and others.

A White House official said that it was only Trump who saved the resolution.

A White House official stated, “As a master negotiator, President Trump always participates in Capitol Hill negotiations. And the budget bill had been on life support before President Trump encouraged Members of Congress to pass it. The House and Senate need to ensure the final bill includes all the President’s priorities, but this budget was a positive step in the direction of a beautiful, big bill that puts America First.”

A spokesperson of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) remarks after the vote, “This is the very first step towards opening the reconciliation process. There is a great deal of work to be done, but America First will succeed. Not just some of it. We will deliver it all. This is just the beginning of that process.”