President Trump spoke on the phone with a handful of Republican lawmakers blocking his “big, beautiful bill” in the early hours of Thursday morning, The Hill has learned, as GOP leaders race to coalesce the conference around the sprawling package.

The phone call — which took place around 1 a.m. as holdouts huddled in a room off the House floor — came as a key procedural vote for the megabill remained open for almost four hours, with hardline conservatives and one moderate Republican hampering the legislation from moving forward.

As of 2 a.m. on Thursday, the vote was 207 to 217, with five Republicans having voted "no" and eight withholding their support. The combination has threatened to tank the rule, since........

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