Whether it's finalizing President Donald Trump's "one big, beautiful bill" or prevailing in the annual congressional baseball game, Republicans expect no help from Democrats.
Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas, will coach the GOP team, and Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., will manage the Democrats in Wednesday night's charity game at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.
While lawmakers warmed up at the ballpark earlier in the day, several Republicans took time to speak with Newsmax's Kilmeny Duchardt about the megabill that passed the House and now is being worked on in the Senate.
"Obviously it came over from the House. They did a lot of great work, and we're having discussions about what changes might take place," said Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., the GOP's left fielder. "But ultimately, I'm confident we're gonna get there — that it's a time to come together."
"The president ran on these agenda items. He won the popular vote. He swept the battleground states, and it's time to deliver for the American people. But I'm confident we'll get there."
Republican leadoff hitter and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said Republicans' unity strengthened after Democrats refused to support Trump's agenda.
"Democrats decided they didn't want to be a part of it, and that's a shame because this bill prevents a $4.5 trillion tax hike on American families," Scalise told Duchardt. "So we came together as Republicans and said, 'If this is going to get done, and it has to get done, then it's going to be us who does it.'"
"And so we put coalitions together. We built a really good coalition of members when we could only lose two votes or three votes at certain points, and then we got it done and sent it to the Senate."
Scalise said the House legislation "has all of President Trump's priorities."
"No tax increases, no tax on tips, no tax on overtime," he said. "You think about producing more energy in America. President Trump ran on it, we deliver."
"Having border security … you look at what's going on in LA right now. You know, they're waving foreign flags in American cities. The president said, 'I'm securing the border,' and he's done most of it, but he needs more money from Congress now to build the wall, hire more border patrol and ICE agents — that's in this bill."
The majority leader added that he doesn't expect the Senate "to make a lot of big changes."
"They have the same dynamics on their side. No Democrats will vote for it, so only Republicans are going to get it done," Scalise told Duchardt. "They just need to keep it moving, get it to his desk by July 4th, so we can turn America around."
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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