Senate Republicans launch 940-page invoice for Trump’s agenda as they race to vote this weekend
WASHINGTON — Moments earlier than midnight, Senate Republican leaders launched textual content of their 940-page invoice on Friday, with the purpose of starting votes on it Saturday.
GOP lawmakers are racing to move the sweeping package deal for President Donald Trump’s agenda by a self-imposed deadline of July 4, nevertheless it continues to face hurdles alongside the way in which. And it is unclear if Senate Republicans have sufficient votes to start debate on it.
The laws would lengthen the tax cuts Trump signed into regulation in 2017 and slash taxes on ideas and additional time pay. It features a $150 billion enhance to army spending this yr, together with a surge of federal cash to hold out Trump’s mass deportations and immigration enforcement agenda. It partially pays for that with cuts to Medicaid, SNAP and clear vitality funding, though the laws is probably going so as to add to the nationwide debt.
It additionally comprises a $5 trillion improve within the debt ceiling forward of an August deadline to avert a default on the nation’s obligations.
With a 53-47 majority within the chamber, Republicans can afford simply three defections on the vote, with no hope of profitable Democratic help. Republicans are in search of to move the invoice by the funds reconciliation course of, which permits them to bypass the Senate’s 60-vote threshold.
Senate Majority Chief John Thune, R-S.D., is aiming to carry a primary take a look at vote on the mammoth package deal Saturday however is operating into issues from rank-and-file Republicans who’re making an attempt to pump the brakes on the method.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., mentioned throughout an look on Fox Information Saturday morning that he would vote in opposition to the preliminary movement to start out debate on the invoice till he has extra time to evaluation it.
“We simply received the invoice, and I received my first copy about 1:23 within the morning, this morning. About 300 provisions, by my rely,” Johnson mentioned. “We shouldn’t take the Nancy Pelosi strategy and move this invoice to seek out out what’s in it. We have to know precisely what’s in it.”
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., instructed NBC Information on Friday that he’ll oppose the invoice, however that he would rethink if Republicans strip out the debt ceiling hike. That’s extremely unlikely to occur. Paul, the one GOP senator who has voted in opposition to the measure all through all of the steps of the method this yr, mentioned it’s “far more of a spending invoice than a invoice that rectifies the debt drawback.”
The GOP package deal prohibits Medicaid funding for entities that present abortion, together with Deliberate Parenthood, in search of to make good on a longstanding conservative precedence. However that pursuit has confronted opposition from Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, so the availability may imperil their votes.
Leaving the Capitol Friday evening, Thune mentioned he isn’t sure that Republicans have the votes to advance the measure however that it is time to act.
“It’s a course of and hopefully the votes shall be there,” Thune mentioned, “however we gained’t know for certain till we even have the vote.”
Even when the package deal can move its first hurdle Saturday, it nonetheless would have a protracted method to go. There can be no less than 10 hours of debate earlier than senators can begin voting on amendments, and Democrats are threatening to pressure the studying of your entire invoice. The Home, which handed its personal model in Could, would wish to move the Senate invoice earlier than it heads to Trump’s desk.
GOP leaders are making daring wager that reluctant members gained’t vote to scuttle Trump’s “large, lovely invoice” when push involves shove. And so they’ve mentioned they might must enlist the president to twist arms and sway holdouts.
The Senate laws seeks to resolve a standoff over the state and native tax (SALT) deduction. It lifts an present $10,000 cap to $40,000 for 5 years — down from a decade within the Home-passed model — earlier than reducing it again to $10,000. That represents a major concession for blue-state Home Republicans who had insisted on solidifying the upper cap.
The invoice seeks to mitigate the ache of Medicaid cuts on some suppliers by making a rural hospital fund value $25 billion over 5 years. It contains work necessities and different new guidelines for recipients to qualify
Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., slammed the invoice.
“On the behest of Massive Oil, at the hours of darkness, Senate Republicans launched a brand new model of their ‘Massive, Lovely Betrayal’ that retroactively raises taxes on vitality,” he mentioned in an announcement Saturday. “Republicans wish to jack up your electrical payments and jeopardize a whole bunch of 1000’s of jobs, all to allow them to give billionaires tax breaks.”