The White House is apparently struggling to keep track of where its top congressional leaders are after White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday of a meeting between President Donald Trump, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), a meeting that reportedly never happened.
“The president has been working hand in hand with Senate Majority Leader Thune and also the Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, both of whom will be at the White House today to meet with the president yet again, I believe they were here this morning, actually,” Leavitt told reporters Monday.
Ryan Wrasse, communications director for Thune, confirmed to the Associated Press that Thune was not in the White House at all on Monday, and had no immediate plans to go, either. Wrasse said Thune was busy leading debate in the Senate as Republican lawmakers rush to pass Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act by July 4, with hopes that the bill will pass Monday night.
“Teams are obviously in close contact (and) coordination, as always, but we're continuing to move through vote-a-rama in the Senate as we work to move this bill one step closer to the president's desk,” Wrasse said in a post on X.
Johnson was also not at the White House on Monday, according to Jake Sherman, founder of Punchbowl News and political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC.
Debates on the OBBBA, Trump’s budget reconciliation package that includes extensions for corporate tax cuts and cuts to social safety net programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid, are expected to continue well into Monday evening as Democrats continue their opposition, and Republican leadership attempt to quash dissent within its ranks.
Trump has asked lawmakers not to leave Washington, D.C. until his megabill passes, and Leavitt said Monday that the White House remains confident that Republicans will manage to get the bill over the finish line by July 4.