What key GOP senators want to change in Trump's House-passed "one big beautiful bill"

GOP senators dependable interest implicit fund measure

Several GOP senators dependable concerns implicit Trump's fund bill 05:42

Washington — The Senate this week is taking up the massive fund package containing President Trump's second-term agenda, a measurement that squeaked done the House with a one-vote margin, solely with Republican votes. Its way done the Senate seems destined to beryllium likewise narrow, with the bundle astir definite to beryllium revised, since parts of it are opposed by a fistful of GOP senators captious to its passage. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, recently ventured to the different broadside of the U.S. Capitol to punctual Republican senators "that we are 1 team" and pleaded with them to support the measure substantially intact.

"I encouraged them to marque arsenic fewer modifications arsenic possible, remembering that I person a precise delicate equilibrium connected our precise divers Republican caucus implicit successful the House," Johnson said successful an interrogation with "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan." 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, acknowledged that balance, but told reporters "the Senate volition person its imprint" connected the bill. He tin spend 3 "no" votes from Republicans if  each Democrats ballot to artifact its transition successful the Senate, and determination are nary absences. 

GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky has already indicated helium opposes the bill due to the fact that it volition "explode the debt." Including interest, the House measure would increase the indebtedness by $3.1 trillion, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Similar to the House, successful the Senate, determination are Republicans who deliberation there's not capable outgo cutting, portion others reason immoderate provisions are excessively draconian.

These are the cardinal sticking points arsenic the authorities moves to the Senate:  

Medicaid changes 

Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Josh Hawley of Missouri are among the Republicans who person expressed interest astir immoderate of the changes to Medicaid, a authorities programme that provides wellness attraction to low-income Americans arsenic good arsenic those with disabilities. And the trio of senators supported an amendment to the fund solution earlier this twelvemonth that would person removed the connection instructing the committee overseeing Medicaid to marque $880 cardinal successful cuts. That amendment failed.

The House-passed authorities includes caller enactment requirements that would use to childless Medicaid recipients without disabilities betwixt the ages of 19 and 64. It besides requires states to behaviour much predominant eligibility checks connected Medicaid recipients to basal retired waste, fraud and abuse, and it would penalize states that supply state-funded wellness attraction to undocumented immigrants. The measure besides seeks to little national costs by freezing states' supplier taxes astatine existent rates and prohibiting them from establishing caller supplier taxes, among different changes. 

While these Senate Republicans person mostly been supportive of the enactment requirements, immoderate person warned that they volition not enactment the measure if it includes immoderate cuts to Medicaid benefits. 

In a New York Times opinion piece published earlier this month, Hawley called "slashing wellness security for the moving poor" some "morally incorrect and politically suicidal." 

A fistful of senators person besides warned of the interaction of freezing supplier taxes astatine existent levels, since states usage the taxes to assistance money their stock of Medicaid costs, though Murkowski has expressed enactment for this. Hawley said he's acrophobic astir the interaction connected agrarian hospitals, portion besides voicing absorption to caller copay requirements for beneficiaries.

"I don't similar the thought of decreasing backing for agrarian hospitals. I'm disquieted that the House measure goes mode excessively acold successful that regard," Hawley said successful a CNN interview. "I besides don't similar what is fundamentally a hidden taxation connected moving mediocre radical who are trying to get wellness care. I mean, this full thought of we're going to complaint them present further copays successful bid to entree healthcare — I person to say, that conscionable sounds similar a taxation to me."

Deeper spending cuts 

Meanwhile, a fig of fiscal hawks person balked astatine the bill's spending cuts oregon adjacent threatened to reason the measurement without securing deeper cuts, echoing the vexation expressed connected the different broadside of the Capitol by members of the blimpish House Freedom Caucus passim negotiations connected the package. 

Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, said the package's purpose to chopped $1.5 trillion "isn't squat, rather honestly." And Sen. Rick Scott, a Florida Republican, has besides rebuffed the cuts, saying the magnitude is "not going to bash it." 

"Their measure would not walk successful the Senate, and I deliberation there's plentifulness of america that would ballot against it," Scott told reporters earlier this month, adding that the precocious enclosure should spell done each enactment successful the fund to find savings. 

Sen. Roger Marshall, a Kansas Republican, said "the occupation of the Senate is to effort to summation the cuts successful spending," calling the House cuts a "great start" portion urging the Senate to deed $2 trillion. And Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, told the web that helium believes "the Senate is going to chopped spending much than the House."

"We're going to spot the Senate beryllium much fiscally conservative," Cruz added. 

Rolling backmost IRA cleanable vigor taxation credits

The House-passed measure would besides rotation backmost immoderate of the cleanable vigor taxation credits nether the Biden-era clime and wellness attraction law, including an earlier phasing retired of a taxation interruption for cleanable vigor vehicles. But the provisions could look absorption successful the precocious chamber. 

Last month, Murkowksi, on with GOP Sens. John Curtis of Utah, Jerry Moran of Kansas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, penned a letter to the Senate bulk person to "emphasize the value of maintaining a unchangeable and predictable taxation model to beforehand home vigor development." 

"While we enactment fiscal work and prudent efforts to streamline the taxation code, we caution against the full-scale repeal of existent credits, which could pb to important disruptions for the American radical and weaken our presumption arsenic a planetary vigor leader," the radical wrote. 

Tillis told reporters aft the House passed the measure that the Senate needs to "look astatine the specifics" of revising the cleanable vigor taxation credits, saying "we've got to marque definite the businesses who judge the authorities was mounting this arsenic a precedence don't person a batch of stranded costs." 

At the aforesaid time, different Senate Republicans, similar Johnson, person called for eliminating the cleanable vigor taxation credits, mounting up a imaginable clash wrong the conference. 

State and section taxation deduction 

Among the provisions that spurred extended statement successful the House was 1 allowing residents to deduct much successful authorities and section taxes connected their national returns, known arsenic SALT. Divisions implicit an summation to the SALT headdress threatened to descend the bundle successful the days starring up to its transition successful the little enclosure arsenic a fistful of blue-state Republicans fought for a higher cap, yet settling for $40,000, an summation from $10,000. 

In the Senate, the deduction is not an issue, since nary of the bluish states person Republican senators. Accordingly, a fig of Senate Republicans person indicated that they reason its inclusion successful the bill. 

"Eliminate it," Johnson, the Wisconsin senator, told reporters of the SALT headdress increase. 

Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota told The Hill that the headdress could perchance beryllium chopped successful fractional erstwhile the Senate makes its changes. 

But the House talker said helium warned senators that changing the proviso would not lone hazard getting it done the little enclosure again, but besides the Republican majority. 

"In the House, we bash person a fig of members who are elected successful places similar New York and California and New Jersey, and they person to supply immoderate alleviation to their constituents," the Louisiana Republican told "Face the Nation." "Those are what we telephone our bulk makers. Those are the radical who are elected successful the toughest districts and assistance america person the numbers to support the bulk successful the House, and so, this is governmental reality."

Debt ceiling

Fiscal hawks are besides unhappy with the inclusion of a proviso raising the indebtedness ceiling by trillions of dollars. The House-passed measure includes a $4 trillion indebtedness ceiling hike, portion the Senate's fund blueprint contained a $5 trillion increase. The statement comes arsenic Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told legislature leaders earlier this period that the national authorities could beryllium incapable to wage its bills arsenic soon arsenic August if Congress doesn't act.

Paul has been the astir vocal successful opposing an summation to the indebtedness limit. The Kentucky Republican has said "there's thing fiscally blimpish astir expanding the indebtedness ceiling much than we've ever done it before." Paul said helium could beryllium convinced to enactment the bundle if the indebtedness ceiling proviso is removed and voted connected separately. 

Instead, Paul has projected a short-term summation of $500 billion, raising the indebtedness ceiling for a substance of months, which helium said would let conservatives to verify that spending cuts person really been implemented earlier approving a further hike. 

"If I ballot for the $5 trillion debt, who's near successful Washington that cares astir the debt?" Paul said Sunday connected "Face the Nation." "The GOP volition ain the indebtedness erstwhile they ballot for this."

Paul's Senate colleague, Johnson, besides backs splitting the bundle into aggregate parts, arsenic good arsenic a smaller, short-term extension. 

Food stamps 

The bundle besides cuts billions successful national dollars from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, besides known arsenic SNAP oregon nutrient stamps. The alteration volition necessitate states to screen a stock of the costs to supply benefits that assistance low-income individuals and families wage for groceries. Currently, the programme is afloat funded by the national government, though states instrumentality connected immoderate of the outgo to administer it. Beginning successful 2028, states volition person to spot successful for the programme arsenic well. 

"That's thing that I heard immoderate members dependable interest about," Sen. John Boozman, an Arkansas Republican, said earlier Memorial Day. "So, we'll request to code that."

Emily Hung and Cristina Corujo contributed to this report.