When lawmakers arrived on Capitol Hill last Monday, House GOP leaders’ plans to sync up with the Senate on sweeping legislation to advance President Donald Trump’s agenda seemed an all-but-impossible task.

House fiscal hawks were furious with Senate Republicans for passing an amended version of the former’s budget framework, one that called for a significantly lower amount of mandatory spending cuts than the House’s initial plan.

By late Thursday morning, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., was celebrating victory in front of reporters after a narrow 216-to-214 vote.

«I told you not to doubt us,» a triumphant Johnson told the media. «We’re really grateful to have had the big victory on the floor just now. It was a big one, a very important one.»

HOUSE FREEDOM CAUCUS CHAIR URGES JOHNSON TO CHANGE COURSE ON SENATE VERSION OF TRUMP BUDGET BILL

The hard-fought win came after long hours and late nights as House Republican leaders — and leaders in the Senate GOP as well — worked to persuade holdouts, while Trump and his aides worked those same critics from the sidelines.

White House aides were at House Republicans’ weekly conference meeting on Tuesday, a rare sight but not unexpected, given the importance of the coming vote.

But GOP lawmakers filed out of that meeting doubting whether Trump’s influence could help this time, after he played a key role in helping shepherd earlier critical bills across the finish line this year.

«I don’t see it happening,» a House Republican told Fox News Digital when asked whether Trump would be enough to sway critics.

Nevertheless, a select group of those holdouts were summoned to the White House alongside House GOP leaders on Wednesday afternoon, hours before the expected vote.

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Fox News Digital was told that Trump commanded the room for roughly 20 to 30 minutes, and told House conservatives he agreed with them on the need to significantly slash government spending.

Trump also communicated to holdouts that Senate leaders felt the same, but, like the House, were working on their own tight margins, Fox News Digital was told.

The president, meanwhile, has been concerned in particular with the looming debt limit deadline, Fox News Digital was told.

It’s one of the issues that Republicans are looking to tackle via the budget reconciliation process. By lowering the Senate’s passage threshold from 60 votes to 51, it allows the party controlling the House, Senate and White House to enact broad policy changes via one or two broad pieces of legislation.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune speaks during a news conference following the Senate Republican policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

In this case, Republicans are looking for some added funds for border security and defense and to raise the debt ceiling — while paring back spending on the former Biden administration’s green energy policies and in other sections of the federal government, likely including entitlement programs.

GOP lawmakers are also looking to extend Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the provisions of which expire at the end of this year. They will also need new funding for Trump’s efforts to eliminate taxes on tipped and overtime wages.

But first, Republicans wanted the House and Senate to pass identical frameworks setting the stage for filling those frameworks with actual legislative policy.

Whereas the House version calls for at least $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, the Senate mandated a floor of $4 billion — a wide gap to bridge.

The Wednesday-afternoon White House meeting did sway some holdouts, but far from enough. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., also met with House GOP critics of the bill for more than an hour on Wednesday evening ahead of the planned vote.

«He couldn’t have been more cordial and understanding in talking to us about what we needed to know. And honestly, he had some of the same concerns that we did,» Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., told Fox News Digital.

«You know, he’s got to get it over the finish line, and he had to make certain commitments. But he committed to us to work with us.»

Ultimately, however, plans to advance the measure that evening were hastily scrapped as an unrelated vote was held open for over an hour, leading to confusion and frustration on the House floor.

«He looked like he was in no better spot than he was at the beginning,» one House Republican said of that night.

Rep. Tim Burchett speaks with reporters at the U.S. Capitol. (Alex Wong)

Trump was not called to address the group during that huddle with holdouts, two sources in the room told Fox News Digital. 

However, the president did have individual conversations with some holdouts on Wednesday and Thursday, one person said.

The Wednesday night failure gave way to a late night of negotiations involving both holdouts and House GOP leaders.

Two House GOP leadership aides told Fox News Digital that Johnson had huddled with Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., and House GOP Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain, R-Mich., until late Wednesday to figure out a path forward.

When they emerged shortly before midnight, they had settled on a plan — a televised promise by Johnson and Thune to put both leaders on the record committing to deep spending cuts.

SENATE GOP PUSHES TRUMP BUDGET FRAMEWORK THROUGH AFTER MARATHON VOTE SERIES

«I’m happy to tell you that this morning, I believe we have the votes to finally adopt the budget resolution so we can move forward on President Trump’s very important agenda for the American people,» Johnson said.

Thune added, «We are aligned with the House in terms of what their budget resolution outlined in terms of savings. The speaker has talked about $1.5 trillion. We have a lot of United States senators who believe in that as a minimum.»

A senior Senate GOP aide argued to Fox News Digital, «Absent Thune’s intervention, Mike Johnson would not have gotten this resolution through the House.»

But the speaker was also putting in his own long hours with holdouts.

Steve Scalise, House majority leader, speaks during Day 2 of the Republican National Convention (RNC), at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on July 16, 2024.  (Reuters/Mike Segar)

The office of Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., who ultimately voted to advance the framework, told Fox News Digital that critics were sent a memo by Johnson early on Thursday, assuring them that he was committed to deep spending cuts.

«The Senate amendment to H. Con. Res. 14 preserves untouched language from the original House-passed resolution, including the reconciliation instructions to House committees and Section 4001 — Adjustment for spending cuts of at least $2 trillion,» the memo said.

It referred to a measure in the House-passed framework that suggested funding toward tax cuts would be reduced by a corresponding amount if final spending cuts did not equal $2 trillion.

«This language reflects a critical principle — that deficit-increasing provisions of the final reconciliation bill are accompanied by concomitant spending cuts,» it said.

Then, as the vote was called around 10:30 a.m. on Thursday morning, a final huddle between holdouts and leaders sealed the Republicans’ victory.

«At some point, it was heated. And then the speaker’s leadership team [House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn.] made sure we were clarified on some issues which are very important to some of the members,» Burchett said.

«And then Steve Scalise, really batting cleanup, and he came in with the final with the final conclusion, which everybody agreed to pretty much. And then the speaker closed the deal.»

House GOP Conference Chair Lisa McClain leaves a meeting at the Capitol Hill Club on Feb. 28, 2023. (Tom Williams)

Burchett said he believed that Johnson had spoken to Trump separately at some point during that huddle.

A senior House GOP aide said McClain was also present for that meeting.

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Republicans clinched the win minutes after 11 a.m. on Thursday, with the GOP side of the House chamber erupting in applause.

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., who helped lead the opposition, told reporters after the vote, «We made tremendous progress over the last two days in making certain that whatever we do on reconciliation, we don’t increase this country’s budget deficit.»

«We take the Moody report from two weeks ago pretty seriously, that you can’t have unpaid-for tax cuts, and we made progress in making, getting assurances both from the Senate and the House leadership that that’s not going to occur,» Harris said.

Un bombardeo ruso causó este domingo la muerte de al menos 34 personas, incluidos dos niños, y dejó 117 heridos en el centro de Sumi, ciudad del noreste ucraniano, en un ataque que provocó fuertes condenas de Estados Unidos y la Unión Europea.

“Creo que fue terrible. Y me dijeron que ellos cometieron un error. Sin embargo, creo que es algo horrible. Creo que toda la guerra es algo horrible”, expresó el presidente estadounidense Donald Trump desde el avión presidencial Air Force One.

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El ataque, ejecutado con misiles balísticos durante el Domingo de Ramos, en plena afluencia de personas, se convirtió en el más mortífero en meses en Ucrania, invadida por Rusia desde febrero de 2022.

También se produjo dos días después de la visita a Rusia de un emisario estadounidense, en el marco de la reanudación de los contactos bilaterales tras el regreso de Trump a la Casa Blanca.

“Rusia golpeó el centro de la ciudad con misiles balísticos. Justo cuando había mucha gente en la calle”, informaron los rescatistas ucranianos en redes sociales.

Según el último parte difundido a las 18H00 (15H00 GMT) por el servicio de emergencias ucraniano, se registraron 34 muertos, incluidos dos menores de edad, y 117 heridos, entre ellos 15 nenes.

Las autoridades locales difundieron imágenes de cuerpos tendidos en las calles, vehículos en llamas y civiles heridos corriendo para refugiarse. Además, decretaron tres días de luto oficial.

“Un día en que la gente va a la iglesia: Domingo de Ramos (…). Sólo los malnacidos pueden hacer esto”, reaccionó el presidente Volodimir Zelenski, en un mensaje publicado en Telegram.

“Sin una presión realmente fuerte, sin un apoyo adecuado a Ucrania, Rusia continuará llevando a cabo esta guerra”, advirtió, acusando a su par ruso, Vladimir Putin, de haber “ignorado la propuesta estadounidense de un alto el fuego total e incondicional”.

En una entrevista posterior con la televisión estadounidense CBS, Zelenski instó a Trump a visitar Ucrania “antes de cualquier tipo de negociación” para que vea con sus propios ojos “lo que hizo” Putin con su guerra.

Desde Bruselas, la jefa de la diplomacia europea, Kaja Kallas, calificó el bombardeo como “un ejemplo horrible de la intensificación de los ataques de Rusia mientras Ucrania aceptó una tregua”.

El secretario general de la ONU, Antonio Guterres, se mostró “profundamente alarmado y conmocionado” por el ataque.

El primer ministro británico, Keir Starmer, escribió en X que este ataque es “un recordatorio brutal del continuo baño de sangre perpetrado por Putin”.

El presidente francés, Emmanuel Macron, pidió “medidas fuertes” para imponer una tregua a Moscú, mientras que el líder conservador alemán, Friedrich Merz, sostuvo que fue “un acto pérfido (…) y un crimen de guerra grave”.

El ataque tuvo lugar tras el encuentro en San Petersburgo entre Putin y Steve Witkoff, emisario estadounidense que visitó Moscú como parte de las gestiones diplomáticas de Washington. Aunque Estados Unidos propuso en marzo una tregua de 30 días, Putin no se mostró convencido y la propuesta no se concretó.

Según Kiev y sus aliados, Rusia estaría alargando deliberadamente las negociaciones con el objetivo de ganar tiempo y aprovechar su superioridad militar en el frente.

La presión rusa no ha cedido en las últimas semanas. A inicios de abril, un ataque en Krivói Rog dejó 18 muertos, incluidos nueve niños, un hecho que conmocionó al país entero.

Sumi, ubicada cerca de la frontera rusa, ha sufrido una creciente presión militar desde que Moscú logró hacer retroceder a las fuerzas ucranianas en la región de Kursk. Aunque hasta ahora se había mantenido al margen de los combates más intensos del sur (Donetsk), las autoridades ucranianas alertan desde hace semanas sobre la posibilidad de una ofensiva rusa en la zona.

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El jueves pasado, Rusia reivindicó la toma de un pueblo en la región de Sumi, un avance poco frecuente en esta parte del noreste, de donde sus tropas se habían replegado en la primavera de 2022.

El comandante en jefe de las fuerzas armadas ucranianas, Oleksandr Sirski, aseguró el miércoles que las tropas rusas habían comenzado “hace algunos días” ofensivas en Sumi y en la vecina región de Járkov, también en el noreste del país.

President Donald Trump issued a Palm Sunday message at the start of Holy Week renewing his administration’s promise «to defend the Christian faith in our schools, military, workplaces, hospitals, and halls of government.» 

«We will never waver in safeguarding the right to religious liberty, upholding the dignity of life, and protecting God in our public square,» Trump wrote in his 2025 Holy Week presidential message released by the White House.

«As we focus on Christ’s redeeming sacrifice, we look to His love, humility, and obedience—even in life’s most difficult and uncertain moments,» Trump said. «This week, we pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon our beloved Nation. We pray that America will remain a beacon of faith, hope, and freedom for the entire world, and we pray to achieve a future that reflects the truth, beauty, and goodness of Christ’s eternal kingdom in Heaven.» 

WHITE HOUSE PLANS ‘EXTRAORDINARY’ HOLY WEEK AS TRUMP HONORS EASTER WITH ‘THE OBSERVANCE IT DESERVES’

«May God bless you and your family during this special time of year and may He continue to bless the United States of America,» Trump wrote. 

Trump said he and first lady Melania Trump «join in prayer with Christians celebrating the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ – the living Son of God who conquered death, freed us from sin, and unlocked the gates of Heaven for all of humanity.» The presidential message reiterated how Holy Week begins «with Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday» and culminates «in the Paschal Triduum, which begins on Holy Thursday with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, followed by Good Friday.» The week reaches its «pinnacle in the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday night.» 

«This week is a time of reflection for Christians to memorialize Jesus’ crucifixion – and to prepare their hearts, minds, and souls for His miraculous Resurrection from the dead,» Trump wrote. 

«During this sacred week, we acknowledge that the glory of Easter Sunday cannot come without the sacrifice Jesus Christ made on the cross,» the president said. «In His final hours on Earth, Christ willingly endured excruciating pain, torture, and execution on the cross out of a deep and abiding love for all His creation. Through His suffering, we have redemption. Through His death, we are forgiven of our sins.  Through His Resurrection, we have hope of eternal life.» 

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«On Easter morning, the stone is rolled away, the tomb is empty, and light prevails over darkness—signaling that death does not have the final word,» Trump said. 

Since surviving a July 2024 assassination attempt during a rally in Butler, Penn., Trump has acknowledged his faith on the campaign trail and months into his second term by repeatedly affirming that he was «saved by God to Make America Great Again.» On Friday, the White House hung a painting depicting a bloodied Trump pumping his first in the air during that attempt on his life last summer, replacing a portrait of former President Barack Obama. 

Then-presidential candidate Donald Trump is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents after a would-be assassin’s bullet grazed his ear on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

The Holy Week proclamation on Sunday is first on the docket of a series of roll-outs and events expected before Easter organized by the newly established White House Faith Office. 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital that Trump delivered on his promise to millions of Christians in creating the office. She drew a «sharp contrast» with the Biden administration, which marked Easter Sunday, which fell on March 31, 2024, the most important holiday on the Christian Church calendar, as Transgender Day of Visibility.

President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden during the 2024 White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House on Monday, April 1, 2024.  (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Jennifer Korn, faith director of the White House Faith Office, told Fox News Digital the administration is gearing up for «extraordinary» celebrations during Holy Week to treat the Easter season «with the observance it deserves.» 

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On Monday, Trump is expected to release a Holy Week video and will host an Easter dinner on Wednesday evening. On Holy Thursday, the president is expected to host a staff worship service at the White House, where Pastor Paula White, the senior advisor to the White House Faith Office, the Rev. Franklin Graham, Pastor Greg Laurie and Pastor Jentezen Franklin will participate in prayer, scripture, service and communion. 

Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.