| |
Debate Underway on Trump's Big Bill 06/30 06:05
Debate has been underway in the Senate late into the night, with Republicans
wrestling President Donald Trump's big bill of tax breaks and spending cuts
over mounting Democratic opposition -- and even some brake-pumping over the
budget slashing by the president himself.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Debate has been underway in the Senate late into the
night, with Republicans wrestling President Donald Trump's big bill of tax
breaks and spending cuts over mounting Democratic opposition -- and even some
brake-pumping over the budget slashing by the president himself.
The outcome from the weekend of work in the Senate remains uncertain and
highly volatile, and overnight voting has been pushed off until Monday. GOP
leaders are rushing to meet Trump's Fourth of July deadline to pass the
package, but they barely secured enough support to muscle it past a procedural
Saturday night hurdle in a tense scene. A handful of Republican holdouts
revolted, and it took phone calls from Trump and a visit from Vice President JD
Vance to keep it on track.
GOP Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina announced Sunday he would not seek
reelection after Trump badgered him for saying he could not vote for the bill
with its steep Medicaid cuts. A new analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional
Budget Office found that 11.8 million more Americans would become uninsured by
2034 if the bill became law. It also said the package would increase the
deficit by nearly $3.3 trillion over the decade.
But other Senate Republicans, along with conservatives in the House, are
pushing for steeper cuts, particularly to health care, drawing their own
unexpected warning from Trump.
"Don't go too crazy!" the president posted on social media. "REMEMBER, you
still have to get reelected."
All told, the Senate bill includes some $4 trillion in tax cuts, making
permanent Trump's 2017 rates, which would expire at the end of the year if
Congress fails to act, while adding the new ones he campaigned on, including no
taxes on tips.
The Senate package would roll back billions in green energy tax credits that
Democrats warn will wipe out wind and solar investments nationwide, and impose
$1.2 trillion in cuts, largely to Medicaid and food stamps, by imposing work
requirements and making sign-up eligibility more stringent.
Additionally, the bill would provide a $350 billion infusion for border and
national security, including for deportations, some of it paid for with new
fees charged to immigrants.
If the Senate can pass the bill, it would need to return to the House.
Speaker Mike Johnson has told lawmakers to be on call for a return to
Washington this week.
Democrats ready to fight all night
Unable to stop the march toward passage of the 940-page bill, the Democrats
as the minority party in Congress is using the tools at its disposal to delay
and drag out the process.
Democrats forced a full reading of the text, which took some 16 hours. Then
senators took over the debate, filling the chamber with speeches, while
Republicans largely stood aside.
"Reckless and irresponsible," said Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan. "A gift to
the billionaire class," said Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
Sen. Patty Murray, the ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Committee,
raised particular concern about the accounting method being used by the
Republicans, which says the tax breaks from Trump's first term are now "current
policy" and the cost of extending them should not be counted toward deficits.
"In my 33 years here in the United States Senate, things have never -- never
-- worked this way," said Murray, the longest-serving Democrat on the Budget
Committee.
She said that kind of "magic math" won't fly with Americans trying to
balance their own household books.
"Go back home and try that game with your constituents," she said. "We still
need to kick people off their health care -- that's too expensive. We still
need to close those hospitals -- we have to cut costs. And we still have to
kick people off SNAP -- because the debt is out of control."
Sanders said Tillis' decision not to seek reelection shows the hold that
Trump's cult of personality has over the GOP.
"We are literally taking food out of the mouths of hungry kids," Sanders
said, while giving tax breaks to Jeff Bezos and other wealthy billionaires.
GOP leaders unfazed
Republicans are using their majorities to push aside Democratic opposition,
and appeared undeterred, even as they have run into a series of political and
policy setbacks.
"We're going to pass the 'Big, beautiful bill," said Sen. Lindsey Graham,
R-S.C., the Budget Committee chairman.
The holdout Republicans remain reluctant to give their votes, and their
leaders have almost no room to spare, given their narrow majorities.
Essentially, they can afford three dissenters in the Senate, with its 53-47 GOP
edge, and about as many in the House, if all members are present and voting.
Trump, who has at times allowed wiggle room on his deadline, kept the
pressure on lawmakers to finish.
He threatened to campaign against Tillis, who was worried that Medicaid cuts
would leave many without health care in his state. Trump badgered Tillis again
on Sunday morning, saying the senator "has hurt the great people of North
Carolina."
Later Sunday, Tillis issued a lengthy statement announcing he would not seek
reelection in 2026.
In an impassioned evening speech, Tillis shared his views arguing the Senate
approach is a betrayal of Trump's promise not to kick people off health care.
"We could take the time to get this right," he thundered. But until then, he
said he would remain opposed.
Democrats can't filibuster, but can stall
Using a congressional process called budget reconciliation, the Republicans
can rely on a simple majority vote in the Senate, rather than the typical
60-vote threshold needed to overcome objections.
Without the filibuster, Democrats have latched on to other tools to mount
their objections.
One is the full reading of the bill text, which has been done in past
situations. Democrats also intended to use their full 10 hours of available
debate time, which was underway.
And then Democrats are prepared to propose dozens of amendments to the
package, a process called vote-a-rama. But Republicans late Sunday postponed
that expected overnight session to early Monday.
GOP senators to watch
As Saturday's vote tally teetered, attention turned to Sen. Lisa Murkowski,
R-Alaska, who was surrounded by GOP leaders in intense conversation. She voted
"yes."
Several provisions in the package are designed for her state in Alaska, but
some were out of compliance of the strict rules by the Senate parliamentarian.
A short time later, Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., drew holdouts Sen.
Rick Scott of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming to his
office. Vance joined in.
Later, Scott said, "We all want to get to yes."
|
|
