Blake Moore still confident in Trump's tax bill after GOPers helped block it

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

Utah Rep. Blake Moore remains confident in advancing Presiden Donald Trump's tax bill despite some GOP opposition.
The bill proposes tax cuts, Medicaid work requirements and border wall funding.
Democrats criticize it as benefiting billionaires, risking coverage loss for millions.

WASHINGTON — Utah Rep. Blake Moore said he is still confident House Republicans will be able to advance President Donald Trump's "one, big, beautiful bill" to renew tax cuts even after several of his colleagues voted to block a procedural vote on the measure.

Moore was one of 16 House Budget Committee members to vote in favor of the bill during a hearing Friday, calling the proposal a "big step to limiting that future debt growth." The Republican congressman said the bill represents the most significant reform to mandatory federal spending and urged GOP colleagues to support it.

Five Republicans defected, however, potentially delaying a House floor vote that was expected next week.

"I am confident we will work through our remaining issues to get this landmark bill through the Budget Committee," Moore told KSL.com through a spokeswoman after the vote. "We have very narrow margins, but we've been here several times this Congress, and we've always worked through members' concerns to find consensus and success."

The committee announced it would reconvene Sunday evening at 8 p.m. MDT for "further consideration" of the bill.

"This bill is the product of months of deliberation and negotiation," Moore told the committee before the vote. "Today, we are spending less than the committees were allowed and saving more than we were instructed to do. This is a huge win to get out of our debt crisis."

The bill would reauthorize tax cuts approved during Trump's first term and impose work requirements on Medicaid starting in 2029, but some conservatives want those requirements to take effect immediately. As written, the bill would add more than $3 trillion to the deficit over the next decade.

Democrats, meanwhile, have opposed the bill, calling the tax cut a handout to billionaires at the expense of low-income Americans on Medicaid. An estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office suggests more than 10 million Americans could lose coverage if the bill passes.

Trump called on Republicans to unite behind the bill in a post on Truth Social ahead of Friday's vote, saying the country "will suffer greatly without this Legislation, with their Taxes going up 65%." The White House said the bill would also fund construction of more miles of wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and prohibit Medicaid from funding gender-related procedures for minors.

The bill was the culmination of work done by 11 separate committees throughout the week, including an overnight hearing in which Moore briefly fell asleep in his chair early Wednesday. Moore expressed optimism with moving the bill forward in an interview with KSL.com following that hearing, but acknowledged at the time the narrow margins Republicans have to get the package through the House.

"We have a very narrow margin right now, right? We only have a three- or four-seat vote majority, and there's some sticking points," he told KSL.com Wednesday. "It's a really tricky balance to try to make this the sweet spot and get it across the finish line."

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