House GOP fumes over Senate megabill: ‘How did it get so much f‑‑‑ing worse?'

The Hill

2 days ago

Moderate Republicans and hard-line conservatives in the House are expressing increasing opposition to the Senate's version of the 'big, beautiful bill' just days before the lower chamber is set to consider the legislation, a daunting dynamic for GOP leaders as they race to meet their self-imposed Friday deadline.
The Senate on Monday kicked off the hours-long vote-a-rama with members considering a series of amendments that could be make-or-break for support in the lower chamber, including changes to Medicaid cuts and tax provisions. The upper chamber is expected to vote on final passage early Tuesday morning.
As House lawmakers anxiously watch the Senate's deliberations, they are fuming about the state of the legislation.
'On the text chains, on the phone calls, everyone is complaining,' one moderate House Republican, who requested anonymity to discuss the private conversations, told The Hill. 'There's a few little provisions people will say something positive about, but no one is happy with the Senate version.'
'It's amazing to a lot of us — how did it get so much f‑‑‑ing worse?' they added.
Live updates: Senate debating Trump's megabill in hours-long vote-a-rama
The lawmaker said GOP leadership and the White House are making calls to skeptical Republicans and that members in more conservative districts are reaching out to moderates to raise issues with some provisions — underscoring the depth of concerns within the conference.
At least six moderate House Republicans are planning to vote 'no' on the Senate bill in its current form, The Hill has learned, as they air concerns about changes to Medicaid and the rollback of green energy tax credits, among other provisions.
The Senate bill includes a proposal that would effectively cap provider taxes at 3.5 percent by 2031, down from the current 6 percent, but only for the states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. On green energy tax credits, the rollback of the subsidies is a bit less harsh in the Senate bill, but the upper chamber's version adds a new tax on solar and wind projects if a certain percentage of their components come from China.
Reps. David Valadao (R-Calif.), Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) and Young Kim (R-Calif.) are currently a 'no' on the legislation because of those provisions, in addition to two other moderate Republicans who requested anonymity to discuss their opinions on the bill. Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.), meanwhile, said he is against the Senate's cut of the bill because of language involving the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap.
'I think it's just bad public policy,' Van Drew said earlier this month, after the Senate unveiled its language. 'If you hurt these hospitals some will close, some people will have to utilize emergency rooms even more. … This is political stupidity; it's political suicide.'
For now, moderates are closely watching for a vote on an amendment introduced by Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) that would prevent new enrollees in Medicaid expansion states from receiving the 9-to-1 enhanced Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) if they are nondisabled and do not have dependent children, a change that would cut spending for the social safety net program by an additional $313 billion.
The amendment is unlikely to muster enough support to pass, though Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is backing the change as part of a deal to help get Scott and other GOP holdouts on board for the procedural vote Saturday.
House moderates, meanwhile, are quietly hoping the tweak does squeak through, since it will make the package dead-on-arrival in the House. A number of lawmakers in the lower chamber have said the provision is a red line for them.
'Most of us want the FMAP amendment to pass, so it'll just be the final nail in the coffin,' the previously quoted lawmaker said.
On the other side of the ideological spectrum are conservative Republicans enraged over the level of spending cuts in the bill and, as a result, its deficit impact. The conservative House Freedom Caucus, which includes several critics of the bill, sent a shot across the bow Monday.
'The House budget framework was clear: no new deficit spending in the One Big Beautiful Bill. The Senate's version adds $651 billion to the deficit — and that's before interest costs, which nearly double the total,' the group wrote on social platform X. 'That's not fiscal responsibility. It's not what we agreed to.'
'The Senate must make major changes and should at least be in the ballpark of compliance with the agreed upon House budget framework,' it added. 'Republicans must do better.'
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), one of the most vocal members of the group who had been airing concerns with the bill throughout the weekend, said he has been having conversations with the White House — which he dubbed 'intense fellowship' — but those discussions do not appear to have done enough to bring him on board.
'I know the president has a great agenda that will get things moving again. I want to accelerate that. I want the border money. I want to vote yes, but I can't vote yes just because they say I have to,' Roy said on 'The Dana Show.' 'I can't vote yes just because everybody says we got to get it done by July 4. I have a responsibility to look at this objectively and say guys, are you doing the right math? And I will just tell you right now, I don't think the math is correct yet.'
Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas), another member of the group, sounded a similar note, saying he wants the Senate to return to the House framework — and floating possibly voting against the procedural rule when the measure works its way through the House.
'I think the commitment is to get back to the House framework,' Self said. 'That's what everybody's committed to, I know that's what the Speaker has been talking to the Senate majority leader about, so we'll see what happens.'
The concerns from both ends of the GOP conference are growing more pronounced as Republican leaders — under pressure from President Trump — race to complete work on the package by their self-imposed July 4 deadline, which arrives Friday.
The Senate is expected to hold a final vote on the legislation early Tuesday morning, once the arduous vote-a-rama process wraps up. If the bill passes, the House Rules Committee could convene as early as Tuesday at noon to take up the legislation, members on the panel were told, according to a source, kickstarting the process in the lower chamber. Floor votes could then be held as early as Wednesday at 9 a.m., House Majority Whip Tom Emmer's (R-Minn.) office told lawmakers Sunday night.
As leaders plow full-steam ahead, some lawmakers are hitting the breaks, recommending that the party push back its timeline to continue deliberations.
'So rather than forcing it through this week, we should have the conversations we need to with the Senate, see what they do, review the bill, find where we can find savings, find where we can adjust what we're doing on tax policy and make the map actually add up,' Roy said Monday.