Republicans need to hold 50 of their 53 senators to pass the bill. They have
lost RaRepublicans need to hold 50 of their 53 senators to pass the bill. They
have lost Rand Paul, of Kentucky, who complained that it would add too much
to the national debt, and Thom Tillis, of North Carolina, who blasted the
Medicaid cuts as damaging to his home state.
“So what do I tell 663,000 people in two years or three years when President
Trump breaks his promise by pushing them off Medicaid?” Tillis said in a fiery
floor speech Sunday evening.
Tillis said “amateurs" are advising Trump and conflating long-standing health
care policy with “waste, fraud and abuse.” Hours earlier, he announced that he
won't run for re-election in 2026 after having clashed with Trump over his
opposition.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, voted to advance the bill Saturday but told NBC
News on Monday she was still leaning against it on final passage. She
expressed concerns with the Medicaid cuts and said she prefers raising taxes
on high earners, calling those “two of the most important things” she wants
addressed.
“There are going to be a gazillion more amendments tonight,” Collins said
midafternoon.
And Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who also voted to keep the process
moving over the weekend after discussions with Republican leaders, voiced
concerns Monday about the cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP), health care and energy tax credits.
“I still have concerns about SNAP and Medicaid,” Murkowski told reporters.
“There are still pieces in the bill that are continuing to be reviewed. And so it
has not yet been fully firmed in terms of some of the provisions. And so I want
to know where they’re going to end up.”
While Republicans voted down a number of Democratic-led amendments
designed to take the bill off the floor and send it to committee, Collins and
Murkowski notably voted for some of them, including one by Sen. Ed Markey,
D-Mass., to revise provisions on rural hospitals.
0 seconds of 2 minutes, 9 secondsVolume 90%
Senate holds 'vote-a-rama' for amendments to Trump spending bill
02:09
In addition, a group of conservatives — Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Rick Scott,
R-Fla., and Mike Lee, R-Utah — are insisting on revising the bill to reduce the
deficit impact.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects that the Senate bill
would increase the national debt by $3.3 trillion over the next 10 years — it
found that revenues would fall by about $4.5 trillion and spending would be
cut by $1.2 trillion. The bill is also projected to lead to 11.8 million people’s
losing their health insurance by 2034 if it becomes law, the CBO said.
The GOP is using a budget trick known as “current policy baseline” to hide the
cost of extending the tax cuts Trump signed into law in 2017, effectively
lowering the sticker price by $3.8 trillion. That tactic hasn’t been used in the
budget process before, and it sets a precedent to weaken the Senate’s 60-vote
rule.
The Senate voted 53-47 to greenlight the new baseline Monday, with all
Republicans voting in favor.
“This is the nuclear option,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., warning that it will
“cut both ways” when the majority flips.
The legislation would also slash taxes on tips and overtime pay. It includes a
$150 billion boost to military spending this year, along with a surge in federal
money to carry out Trump’s mass deportation and immigration enforcement
agenda. It would partly pay for that with cuts to Medicaid, SNAP and clean
energy funding.
And it includes a $5 trillion increase in the debt ceiling ahead of an August
deadline to avert a default on the country’s obligations.
"The permanent tax relief included in our bill means Americans keeping more
of their hard-earned money and American businesses growing and investing
in our country and our workers," said Senate Majority Leader John Thune,
R-S.D.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is trying to guide the bill for
Trump's agenda through the chamber. Graeme Sloan / Bloomberg / Getty
Images
The Senate version of the bill includes steeper Medicaid cuts than the House
version, along with changes to the clean energy funding rollbacks. It would
shorten the timeline for an expanded $40,000 state and local tax (SALT)
deduction cap to five years before cutting it back to $10,000. And it includes a
series of provisions for priorities in Alaska, including a tax break for whaling
captains, in an apparent attempt to win over Murkowski.
The Monday vote-a-rama comes after a rare weekend work session for the
Senate.
nd Paul, of Kentucky, who complained that it would add too much to the
national debt, and Thom Tillis, of North Carolina, who blasted the Medicaid
cuts as damaging to his home state.
“So what do I tell 663,000 people in two years or three years when President
Trump breaks his promise by pushing them off Medicaid?” Tillis said in a fiery
floor speech Sunday evening.
Tillis said “amateurs" are advising Trump and conflating long-standing health
care policy with “waste, fraud and abuse.” Hours earlier, he announced that he
won't run for re-election in 2026 after having clashed with Trump over his
opposition.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, voted to advance the bill Saturday but told NBC
News on Monday she was still leaning against it on final passage. She
expressed concerns with the Medicaid cuts and said she prefers raising taxes
on high earners, calling those “two of the most important things” she wants
addressed.
“There are going to be a gazillion more amendments tonight,” Collins said
midafternoon.
And Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who also voted to keep the process
moving over the weekend after discussions with Republican leaders, voiced
concerns Monday about the cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP), health care and energy tax credits.
“I still have concerns about SNAP and Medicaid,” Murkowski told reporters.
“There are still pieces in the bill that are continuing to be reviewed. And so it
has not yet been fully firmed in terms of some of the provisions. And so I want
to know where they’re going to end up.”
While Republicans voted down a number of Democratic-led amendments
designed to take the bill off the floor and send it to committee, Collins and
Murkowski notably voted for some of them, including one by Sen. Ed Markey,
D-Mass., to revise provisions on rural hospitals.
0 seconds of 2 minutes, 9 secondsVolume 90%
Senate holds 'vote-a-rama' for amendments to Trump spending bill
02:09
In addition, a group of conservatives — Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Rick Scott,
R-Fla., and Mike Lee, R-Utah — are insisting on revising the bill to reduce the
deficit impact.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects that the Senate bill
would increase the national debt by $3.3 trillion over the next 10 years — it
found that revenues would fall by about $4.5 trillion and spending would be
cut by $1.2 trillion. The bill is also projected to lead to 11.8 million people’s
losing their health insurance by 2034 if it becomes law, the CBO said.
The GOP is using a budget trick known as “current policy baseline” to hide the
cost of extending the tax cuts Trump signed into law in 2017, effectively
lowering the sticker price by $3.8 trillion. That tactic hasn’t been used in the
budget process before, and it sets a precedent to weaken the Senate’s 60-vote
rule.
The Senate voted 53-47 to greenlight the new baseline Monday, with all
Republicans voting in favor.
“This is the nuclear option,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., warning that it will
“cut both ways” when the majority flips.
The legislation would also slash taxes on tips and overtime pay. It includes a
$150 billion boost to military spending this year, along with a surge in federal
money to carry out Trump’s mass deportation and immigration enforcement
agenda. It would partly pay for that with cuts to Medicaid, SNAP and clean
energy funding.
And it includes a $5 trillion increase in the debt ceiling ahead of an August
deadline to avert a default on the country’s obligations.
"The permanent tax relief included in our bill means Americans keeping more
of their hard-earned money and American businesses growing and investing
in our country and our workers," said Senate Majority Leader John Thune,
R-S.D.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is trying to guide the bill for
Trump's agenda through the chamber. Graeme Sloan / Bloomberg / Getty
Images
The Senate version of the bill includes steeper Medicaid cuts than the House
version, along with changes to the clean energy funding rollbacks. It would
shorten the timeline for an expanded $40,000 state and local tax (SALT)
deduction cap to five years before cutting it back to $10,000. And it includes a
series of provisions for priorities in Alaska, including a tax break for whaling
captains, in an apparent attempt to win over Murkowski.
The Monday vote-a-rama comes after a rare weekend work session for the
Senate.