Dems delete the 'Big Beautiful Bill'
The Alaska senator has been the subject of an intense whip effort by GOP leaders over the past couple of hours as they try to offer her reassurances on Medicaid and food assistance. Thune, Finance Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso talked to Murkowski on the floor for roughly an hour overnight. Thune and Murkowski huddled briefly in his office, and they were mum on details when they emerged shortly before 4 a.m.
Just moments ago, the Senate parliamentarian ruled that proposed SNAP carve-outs for an expanded list of states including Alaska are compliant with the Byrd rule. But the parliamentarian ruled a provision that would have boosted federal payments for Medicaid in Alaska and four other states is noncompliant, according to a person granted anonymity to share the decision.
Murkowski is also among the Republicans who have been pushing an amendment to undo the rollback of clean-energy credits under the Biden-era climate law.
Thune insisted to reporters moments ago that senators were closing in on the end of their vote-a-rama.
'We're close,' he said, adding that they have a few more amendments from senators and a final so-called wraparound amendment to come.
In a potential sign of just how dire Thune's whip count was looking in the wee hours, the majority leader huddled in his office with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who's long said he would be a 'no' on the bill over its debt-ceiling hike.
Another big unknown right now is where Sen. Susan Collins will fall. The Maine senator reminded us less than two hours ago that she's 'said all along that I have concerns with the bill' and also reiterated, when prompted by reporters, that she would have preferred breaking out the tax portion of the policy package on a separate track. Certainly not helping win Collins over: Her bid to boost money for rural hospitals went up in flames.
And major policy fights remain unresolved, including Sen. Rick Scott's (R-Fla.) divisive amendment to scale back federal payments under the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion. Scott has leadership's support on this one and said he expects it to pass. But several GOP senators have openly raised concerns with it.
What else we're watching:
— Megabill goes to House Rules: Assuming the Senate passes the bill, the House is expected to bring the bill to the Rules Committee at noon Tuesday, though two people with direct knowledge of the plans say it could get pushed amid delays with the Senate vote-a-rama.
— The next funding battle begins: Senate appropriators plan to move forward with marking up fiscal 2026 government funding bills starting next week. House Appropriations is scheduled to vote July 10 on the Commerce, Justice, Science bill and the Energy and Water Development bill. House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) wants to finish marking up all 12 funding bills by the end of July.
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10 minutes ago
'Agonizing': How Alaska's pivotal Republican senator decided to vote for Donald Trump's bill
WASHINGTON -- Just after midnight, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski was pacing in a Senate hallway, alone and looking concerned. It had suddenly become clear to all her Republican colleagues that her vote would be their best chance of passing President Donald Trump's sweeping bill of tax and spending cuts. Had she decided whether she would support the bill? 'No,' Murkowski said, shaking her head and putting her hand up to signal that she didn't want to answer any questions. Around 12 hours later, after she had convinced Senate leaders to change the bill to benefit her state and voted for the legislation, ensuring its passage, Murkowski said the last day had been 'probably the most difficult and agonizing legislative 24-hour period that I have encountered.' 'And you all know," she told reporters after the vote at midday Tuesday, 'I've got a few battle scars underneath me.' Murkowski has been in the Senate for nearly 23 years, and she has taken a lot of tough votes as a moderate Republican who often breaks with her party. So she knew what she was doing when she managed to leverage the pressure campaign against her into several new programs that benefit her very rural state, including special carveouts for Medicaid and food assistance. 'Lisa can withstand pressure,' said Maine Sen. Susan Collins, a fellow Republican moderate and longtime friend. Collins said she spoke to Murkowski on Monday when she was still undecided, and 'I know it was a difficult decision for her, and I also know how much thought she put into it.' Texas Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who has also served with Murkowski for two decades, was more blunt: 'She knows how to use her leverage,' he said. The 887-page bill narrowly passed by the Senate on Tuesday — and now headed back to the House for possible passage — mentions California three times, Texas twice and New York not at all. 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Murkowski eventually decided to support the legislation in the hours after the Senate parliamentarian approved language to allow several states with the worst error rates in the food stamp program — including Alaska — to put off having to pay a greater portion of the cost of federal benefits, and after Republicans added a $50 billion fund proposed by Collins to help rural hospitals that might otherwise be hurt by Medicaid cuts. Even with the fund included, Collins was one of three Republicans who voted no on the bill, arguing that the cuts to Medicaid and food stamps would hit her small rural state especially hard. But she said she understands why Murkowski would support it and negotiate special treatment for her state. 'The fact is, Alaska is unique from every other state,' Collins said. Nearly one-third of Alaska's total population is covered by Medicaid, and the state has long struggled with high health care costs and limited health services in many communities. 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Thune had said for weeks that he would hold a vote as soon as he had 51 senators supporting the legislation. And after days of delays, it became clear Tuesday morning that Murkowski had decided to support it when Thune told senators to come to the floor and scheduled a vote within the hour.
10 minutes ago
US won't send some weapons pledged to Ukraine following a Pentagon review of military aid
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. is halting some shipments of weapons to Ukraine amid concerns that its own stockpiles have declined too much, officials said Tuesday, a setback for the country as it tries to fend off escalating attacks from Russia. Certain munitions were previously promised to Ukraine under the Biden administration to aid its defenses during the more than three-year-old war. The pause reflects a new set of priorities under President Donald Trump and came after Defense Department officials scrutinized current U.S. stockpiles and raised concerns. 'This decision was made to put America's interests first following a review of our nation's military support and assistance to other countries across the globe,' White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement. 'The strength of the United States Armed Forces remains unquestioned — just ask Iran.' That was a reference to Trump recently ordering U.S. missile strikes against nuclear sites in Iran. 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The U.S. stoppage was first reported by Politico. To date, the U.S. has provided Ukraine more than $66 billion worth of weapons and military assistance since Russia invaded its neighbor in February 2022. Over the course of the war, the U.S. has routinely pressed for allies to provide air defense systems to Ukraine. But many are reluctant to give up the high-tech systems, particularly countries in Eastern Europe that also feel threatened by Russia. Elbridge Colby, the Defense Department undersecretary for policy, said officials continue 'to provide the president with robust options to continue military aid to Ukraine, consistent with his goal of bringing this tragic war to an end.' 'At the same time, the department is rigorously examining and adapting its approach to achieving this objective while also preserving U.S. forces' readiness for Administration defense priorities,' Colby said in a statement. Trump met with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the NATO summit last week and had left open the possibility of sending Kyiv more U.S.-made Patriot air defense missile systems, acknowledging they would help the Ukrainian cause. 'They do want to have the antimissile missiles, OK, as they call them, the Patriots,' Trump said then. 'And we're going to see if we can make some available. We need them, too. We're supplying them to Israel, and they're very effective, 100% effective. Hard to believe how effective. They do want that more than any other thing.' Those comments hinted at thinking about providing weapons to Ukraine that's begun to change across the administration in recent months. In testimony before lawmakers in June, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he has moved quickly to quash wasteful programs and redirect funding to Trump's top objectives. Hegseth said a negotiated peace between Russia and Ukraine, which has been promoted for months by Trump, makes America look strong, even though Moscow is the aggressor in the conflict. He also said the defense budget includes hard choices and 'reflects the reality that Europe needs to step up more for the defense of its own continent. And President Trump deserves the credit for that.' The defense secretary told lawmakers last month that some U.S. security spending for Ukraine was still in the pipeline, without providing details. But he said such assistance — which has been robust for the past two years — would be reduced. 'This administration takes a very different view of that conflict,' Hegseth said. 'We believe that a negotiated peaceful settlement is in the best interest of both parties and our nation's interests.' The change comes after Hegseth skipped a meeting last month of an international group to coordinate military aid to Ukraine that the U.S. created three years ago. Hegseth's predecessor, Lloyd Austin, formed the group after Russia attacked Ukraine, and Hegseth's absence was the first time the U.S. defense secretary wasn't in attendance. Under Austin's leadership, the U.S. served as chair of the group, and he and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff attended monthly meetings, which were both in person and by video. Hegseth had previously stepped away from a leadership role of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group — turning that over to Germany and the United Kingdom — before abandoning the gathering altogether.
Washington Post
14 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Trump keeps saying the GOP mega bill will eliminate taxes on Social Security. It does not
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump keeps saying that Republicans' mega tax and spending cut legislation will eliminate taxes on federal Social Security benefits. It does not. At best, Trump's 'no tax on Social Security' claim exaggerates the benefits to seniors if either the House or Senate-passed proposals is signed into law.
