Trump's massive agenda bill faces headwinds in the Senate after key ruling from chamber's rules referee

CNN

3 days ago

The timeline to pass President Donald Trump's sweeping domestic policy bill by July 4 could slip as Republican lawmakers scramble to retool their bill to meet Senate rules and garner enough support in a deeply divided GOP conference.
Senate GOP leaders had hoped to move Trump's massive agenda in their chamber by Saturday morning, giving it to Speaker Mike Johnson to jam it through the House by Tuesday — so the president could sign it by the Fourth of July.
But Thursday morning, the Senate's rules referee, parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, struck down key provisions, saying they don't meet the chamber's strict budget rules that must be followed so the bill can be approved by a simple majority of 51 votes – or just GOP support.
'We don't control the timing of the parliamentarian. That's obviously something that we have to adapt to but we're plowing forward and when we actually get on it still is an open question, but rest assured we will,' Senate Republican Leader John Thune told reporters when asked about bill timing, saying they have 'contingency plans' for such 'speed bumps.'
Chief among the denied provisions is the GOP's proposed changes to taxes that states can impose to help pay for Medicaid coverage – an issue known as the provider tax – which could have raised $200 billion to pay for programs in the bill.
Now, Republican leaders are scrambling to retool the provision so it can both meet Senate rules and pass muster with a divided Senate GOP conference. It's unclear how long that process will take, according to several senior GOP sources.
The parliamentarian has made a number of other notable rulings, but her determination that increases to provider taxes do not comply with budget rules means Republicans will have to find another way to offset the cost of the president's massive domestic policy bill just days before GOP leadership wanted to vote on it.
Thune has previously ruled out trying to overrule the parliamentarian, worried about the precedent that would set for the chamber.
'We'll continue our work and find a solution to achieve the desired results,' a Republican source familiar with the negotiations told CNN Thursday morning.
Potential changes to the Medicaid program have badly divided the Senate GOP, with a number of members – including Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Susan Collins of Maine, among others – worried that the new limits would devastate rural hospitals in their states.
Others, still, want deeper Medicaid cuts to help pay for the multi-trillion-dollar tax overhaul in the bill.
Republican leadership is looking to see if they can make changes to the bill's Medicaid provisions to resubmit to the Senate parliamentarian, in the hopes that she'll accept it the second time around.
Hawley said Thursday morning that he prefers the House's model, which froze provider tax rates at current levels, and said he had spoken with Trump Wednesday evening and that the president agreed with him. But the House's approach to provider taxes, which was also included in the Senate bill, was also ruled out of order by the parliamentarian.
'His message was, do what the House did, so I agree with that,' he said, adding, 'If the leadership wants to redraft, my advice would be, why don't you do what the House did.'
Pressed on the fact that the parliamentarian also overruled a freeze on provider taxes, Hawley answered, 'They're gonna have to redraft all of it, but this would be a chance to fix it.'
'This would be a chance for leadership to fix it and actually do something right here that's not gonna hurt rural hospitals,' he continued, without providing more details on what provisions he wants to see in a new draft that he thinks could withstand the parliamentarian's review.
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, who is up for reelection in 2026, has warned his colleagues for the last week that he won't vote to proceed to full Senate debate on the bill unless he gets state-specific answers.
'I'm still looking at answers to questions, so whether or not we retool that, or go back to the House baseline and build off there, I think those are discussions that the leadership will be having today,' Tillis told CNN.
'If retooling means I can get answers to what I consider to be fundamental questions, I'm open to it. But if retooling means I'm still not going to get the answers I need to understand the impact of the state, I'm opposed to it.'
A number of Republican senators cautioned their timeline for passing the megabill had been upended by the parliamentarian's ruling, venting their frustrations on Capitol Hill in the hours after it came down.
'I'm concerned about the parliamentarian's ability to make these decisions,' Sen. Markwayne Mullin said, suggesting without evidence that 'it seems politically motivated.'
'The parliamentarians are not supposed to be in politics — and I'm not accusing her of that, I haven't heard her explanation of it. I want to see it before I just take this decision. I want to see how she got to the decision,' the Oklahoma Republican said.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville went further, calling for the parliamentarian to be fired.
'The WOKE Senate Parliamentarian, who was appointed by Harry Reid and advised Al Gore, just STRUCK DOWN a provision BANNING illegals from stealing Medicaid from American citizens. This is a perfect example of why Americans hate THE SWAMP,' Tuberville wrote on X.
The Senate parliamentarian is a nonpartisan position that was created in the 1930s. In the role, MacDonough, the first woman to serve as parliamentarian, is tasked with advising the chamber on how its rules, protocols and precedents should be applied. That includes advising senators in a bill-review process known as a 'Byrd Bath' when they are looking to use Senate budget rules to pass a bill with a simple majority.
Senators acknowledged that the parliamentarian's rulings could slow their timeline for passing the bill.
'One option, obviously, would be to go forward without the provider tax provisions, and we could do it pretty quickly,' Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy said, noting that deficit hawks in the GOP conference would 'be screaming like they're part of a prison riot,' if leadership took that path.
'Another option would be to rewrite it, which will delay things. Will [Senate Majority Leader] Thune keep us here until we give them re-written? I don't know,' he continued.
Saying 'it's pretty frustrating,' Florida GOP Sen. Rick Scott insisted he's optimistic his conference can rework the language.
Pressed, however, on whether the legislation could still pass the Senate this weekend, as Republicans had hoped, Scott said: 'Who knows? I'm up here until we get it done.'