Vance arrives at Capitol as GOP short votes to pass Trump megabill
The deadlock in the Senate GOP conference is raising serious questions about whether Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) will have to pull the bill from the floor, something that would be an embarrassing setback for Republicans.
Senators say that the final text of the legislation, which has been undergoing changes throughout the night, has yet to be circulated, leaving them in a state of limbo that stretched for hours into the night and then past dawn.
Vance played a key role in helping to muster enough votes to pass a motion to proceed to the bill on Saturday and he has had success throughout the first several months of Trump's second term persuading GOP senators to take tough votes, such as on the confirmation of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
The GOP leadership's lobbying efforts have focused on Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R), who has held out for hours over concerns that deep cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will hit her home state hard.
A remarkable scene played out on the Senate floor shortly after 5 a.m., when Thune, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) huddled around Murkowski along the back wall of the chamber, having an animated conversation about her concerns over the bill.
GOP leaders suffered a serious setback when Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough rejected two provisions aimed at softening the impact of Medicaid and SNAP cuts on Alaska.
GOP negotiators worked past midnight Tuesday to rewrite those provisions to meet the parliamentarian's approval but with limited success.
A source familiar with the parliamentary discussions said MacDonough has accepted a reworked version of the language to delay the implementation of SNAP cuts to Alaska as long as the state shows it is making progress in reducing its error rate in delivering food assistance benefits.
But an effort to rewrite language to deliver an enhanced federal Medicaid funding match — also known as an enhanced Federal Medical Assistance Percentage — for Alaska had not yet received the parliamentarian's approval as of 6 a.m. Tuesday.
Thune desperately needs Murkowski's vote because there are already three likely Republican 'no' votes on the legislation.
Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) say they are hard 'no's' on the legislation as it's now written and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who faces a tough reelection race next year, said she's leaning against voting for the bill.
Collins offered an amendment to the bill to double the size of the rural hospital relief fund in the bill from $25 billion to $50 billion, but it was voted down, 22 to 78.
GOP leaders have had a tough time locking down Murkowski's vote, despite hours of entreaties Monday night and Tuesday morning.
Thune met with her in his office shortly before 4 a.m. and were spotted walking in the hall together. Thune said they were 'just chatting.'
When asked, Thune rejected the prospect of having to pull the bill off the floor, telling a reporter for the Associated Press that it was an option he didn't want to worry about.
That prompted Thune to have a conversation early Tuesday with Paul, who says he would support the bill if the language to raise the debt ceiling by $5 trillion is stripped out. Paul is instead proposing that the bill increase the debt-ceiling by only $500 billion, which he hopes could force Republicans to advance another reconciliation package with deeper spending cuts tied to another debt-limit increase later in the year.
One Democratic senator, who requested anonymity, expressed exasperation over the deadlock on the Senate floor and the failure to produce final legislative text, even more than 21 hours into voting.
'There's still no text, as of today there is still no text,' the senator said. 'I think they don't have the votes.
'Have you seen what's going on, on the floor, I've never seen anything like that,' the lawmaker said, referring to efforts to lobby Murkowski to vote for the legislation after hours and hours of voting on amendments.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) accused Republicans of slow-walking the bill to buy more time to scrounge up Republican support.
'They're slowing things down because right now, they're one big mess. They've made a lot of promises, contradictory promises to different parts of their caucus,' he told MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Senate passes Trump's major policy bill with $150 billion for the DOD
The Senate passed a massive party-line spending package Tuesday, including a one-time surge in defense spending the Pentagon is counting on for its upcoming fiscal year 2026 budget. By a vote of 51-50 — with Vice President JD Vance breaking the tie — the chamber advanced the vast tax, healthcare and border security bill President Donald Trump has championed as key to his legislative agenda. That 940-page 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' also features $150 billion in funding for the military, which would go toward shipbuilding, the Golden Dome homeland missile defense project, munitions and other key priorities. The bill next goes back to the House for final consideration. Trump has set a deadline of July 4 to pass the spending package out of that chamber, though some lawmakers in the House have already said they're unlikely to approve the bill before the end of the week. The Pentagon has argued this package should be counted as part of the DOD's overall defense budget plan for the coming year, and defense officials moved spending priorities usually reserved for its base spending plan into the one-time package. In its delayed spending request last week, the Defense Department issued an $848 million base budget request, which is a cut when accounting for inflation. That said, the Pentagon is counting on $113 billion in immediate funding from the supplemental spending bill in Congress, bringing the total for military spending closer to $960 billion. Still, many top Republicans and Democrats in Congress have argued that the unusual arrangement will cause unnecessary confusion for the Pentagon and the defense industry responsible for major weapons programs. In a briefing to describe the funding request, senior defense and military officials countered this argument, saying the immediate surge in funding may reassure some of these companies, which are accustomed to Congress starting the fiscal year on temporary spending plans known as continuing resolutions. One official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the administration would likely keep military funding close to $1 trillion for next year as well, though it hasn't yet decided on an appropriate baseline. If not, the Defense Department will face extremely difficult choices when deciding how to factor the priorities included in the one-time spending package back into its yearly budget.
Time Magazine
28 minutes ago
- Time Magazine
Trump's ‘Big Beautiful Bill' Threatens Planned Parenthood Funds
The funding Planned Parenthood receives for a variety of reproductive and preventive care services through Medicaid is under threat after the Supreme Court and Senate Parliamentarian both greenlit Republican efforts to strip the women's health organization of funds. The Senate version of President Donald Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill' narrowly passed on Tuesday with a provision included that would prohibit federal Medicaid funding for any health care services provided by Planned Parenthood for one year, after Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough allowed the cuts to remain in the legislation. The provision initially sought to 'defund' Planned Parenthood for 10 years, but the timing was reduced to one year prior to MacDonough's ruling. The sweeping tax and spending package now returns to the House. The bill's Senate passage comes just days after the Supreme Court ruled that states can prohibit Medicaid funding for any health care services provided by Planned Parenthood, in a case stemming from a 2018 order by South Carolina Republican Gov. Henry McMaster that barred any clinic offering abortion services from the state's Medicaid program. Read More: South Carolina Wants to End Medicaid for Planned Parenthood The decisions are major victories for Republican lawmakers in their decades-long effort to strip Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider, of government funding. The Hyde Amendment already bars federal dollars from being used for abortion. Medicaid—the state-federal program that provides health insurance coverage for more than 70 million people from low-income households—doesn't cover abortions, with very limited exceptions. But Medicaid covers other, non-abortion health care services that Planned Parenthood clinics provide, and many of the patients who visit the organization's locations are Medicaid recipients. Anti-abortion groups praised the Supreme Court's decision; Katie Daniel, director of legal affairs and policy counsel for the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said in a statement that the decision 'saves countless unborn babies from a violent death.' But Planned Parenthood, abortion-rights advocates, and health care providers condemned the court's ruling. Planned Parenthood has said that barring Medicaid coverage for the number of other health care services its clinics provide—such as birth control, STI testing and treatment, and cancer screenings—could lead to many patients not getting the health care they need. 'The Supreme Court once again sided with politicians who believe they know better than you, who want to block you from seeing your trusted health care provider and making your own health care decisions,' Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement. 'Patients need access to birth control, cancer screenings, STI testing and treatment, and more. And right now, lawmakers in Congress are trying to 'defund' Planned Parenthood as part of their long-term goal to shut down Planned Parenthood and ban abortion nationwide.' The provision targeting Planned Parenthood in Trump's tax and spending package would cost taxpayers an additional $52 million over 10 years, according to an estimate from the Congressional Budget Office. Planned Parenthood has said that if it is 'defunded,' nearly 200 health centers in 24 states would be at risk of closing and more than 1.1 million patients could lose access to their health care. Lawmakers and anti-abortion groups that have pushed to 'defund' Planned Parenthood have argued that patients can turn to federally qualified health centers instead of the women's health organization. But a recent report from the Guttmacher Institute, which researches and supports sexual and reproductive health and rights, concluded that federally qualified health centers wouldn't be able to readily replace Planned Parenthood's provider network. Abortion-rights advocates sounded the alarm on Tuesday, after the tax and spending package cleared the Senate with the provision targeting Planned Parenthood. 'If this bill passes, it will be the most devastating blow to women's health and bodily autonomy since the overturning of Roe,' Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement. 'What we are seeing is a full-scale attack against the complete range of care that these clinics provide—abortion care, yes, but also so much more.' 'If this bill passes, many people will have nowhere else affordable to go for these services,' Northup continued. 'The U.S. health care system is already stretched thin—the majority in Congress should not be further limiting where people can get health care. Patients should have the freedom to pick their health care provider.'
Fox News
28 minutes ago
- Fox News
Elizabeth Pipko: I Knew Right Away That Mamdani Would Be A Threat In The NYC Mayoral Primary
Former GOP National Spokesperson Elizabeth Pipko joins Fox Across America With guest host Jason Chaffetz to give her take on what led to the rise of socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani, the presumptive Democratic nominee for New York City mayor. Elizabeth Pipko Praises Trump's Tough Approach To Iran
