President Donald Trump told House Republicans on Sunday that if they stand in the way of his push for broad tax reform, it could come back to hurt them in the 2018 midterm elections.
In a conference call Sunday, which also included Vice President Mike Pence, Trump told the House GOP to approve the Senate’s version of the budget framework, which was passed Thursday night, to pave the route for tax reform.
Sources familiar with the phone call told Fox News that Trump warned of big trouble for House Republicans in the approaching midterms if they fail to advance tax reform. It was unclear if he got into any more detail.
House Speaker Paul Ryan on the call told Republicans he hopes to pass a revised version of the Senate bill this week to increase the chances that tax reform can be enacted by the end of this year.
The budget passed by the Senate includes rules that would allow Republicans to get tax legislation through the Senate without Democratic votes and without fear of a Democratic filibuster.
Trump is expected to have lunch with Senate Republicans on the Hill Tuesday to rally support for the plan.
Republicans are desperate to rack up a legislative win after a series of failures -- including harsh disagreements over repealing and replacing ObamaCare -- despite the fact that the party controls both chambers of Congress and the White House.
Fox News' Chad Pergram and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
