Latest news with #ElizabethMacDonough
The Herald Scotland
8 hours ago
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Trump hedges on deadline for mega tax bill to pass Congress
Trump has pressed Senate Republicans to stay on his ambitious timeline to complete their work by July 4 and get the measure to his desk for signature into law. But the president also acknowledged his ambitions might not become reality amid deep internal GOP policy disputes and complex Senate rules that have sent the mega bill through the legislative shredder. More: GOP senators negotiate Trump budget bill in hopes of improving its polling Among the many concerns Republicans are still trying to work through are their own proposed cuts for Medicaid eligibility, which Democrats already see as a winning political message for them in the upcoming 2026 midterm elections where they're looking to retake majorities in both the House and Senate. Trump has said previously he wants Congress to pass the sweeping bill and get it to his desk by Independence Day. But for that to happen the Senate still needs to finalize and pass its version, before then sending it back to the GOP-led House to reconcile any differences with their efforts that previously won approval with the slimmest of majorities in May. As the Senate continues to grapple with concerns including the legislation's high cost and the Medicaid language, Trump is hedging his own deadline. "It's important," but, "it's not the end-all," Trump told reporters on June 27. "We'd like to get it done by that time, if possible," Trump said. Further complications have come in the form of Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough's ruling on what is and is not within the scope of a spending bill. MacDonough, a nonpartisan official, found several Senate Republicans' provisions in violation, including attempts to repeal federal food aid for noncitizens, multiple measures softening environmental regulations and deregulation for gun silencers. "The parliamentarian's been a little difficult," Trump said. "I would say that I disagree with the parliamentarian on some things, and on other ways, she's been fine." Trump did not go so far as to call for her termination, though, unlike some Republicans on Capitol Hill. The president is instead laying the groundwork to pin the blame on his congressional opponents. "The Democrats won't approve it only because politically it's so good for the Republicans," Trump said. "If I were a Democrat, I would vote for this bill all day long," he added. Polling has shown Trump's bill is not scoring well with in public opinion. Fewer than 30% of voters support the bill in three recent surveys by Pew, Quinnipiac and the Washington Post-Ipsos. The bill is doubtful to get support from any Senate Democrat, but under special Senate rules, only 51 Republicans are needed to sign-off and avoid a filibuster.
The Hill
16 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Parliamentarian rejects GOP attempt to impose fees on asylum seekers
The Senate parliamentarian on Friday ruled that a Republican attempt to charge migrants a $1,000 fee when applying for asylum violates the Senate's Byrd Rule and cannot be included in the GOP megabill to enact President Trump's legislative agenda. The mandatory $1,000 fee for asylum applications is one of several immigration-related fees the parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, rejected in her review of the massive budget reconciliation package set for a vote Saturday. She ruled against a section of the bill to impose a $100 fee on migrants who request a continuance in immigration court and a provision to require the Department of Homeland Security to impose a $250 fee for applying to the diversity visa lottery and a $400 fee to process diversity visa applications. MacDonough advised against language to require a $5,000 bond to sponsor an unaccompanied child who fails to appear in immigration court, a bond that would be returned if the child does not receive an in absentia removal order. She also rejected language expanding expedited removal procedures for migrants who are arrested of crimes — removal procedures that were beefed up earlier this year when Congress signed and Trump signed the Laken Riley Act. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, applauded the parliamentarian's rulings. 'We have been successful in removing parts of this bill that hurt families and workers, but the process is not over, and Democrats are continuing to make the case against every provision in this Big, Beautiful Betrayal of a bill that violates the Senate rules,' he said in a statement. The parliamentarian also rejected language in the bill to appropriate $85 million to transfer the space shuttle in display at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum to a non-profit group in Houston. Moving the shuttle to Houston was a priority of Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee. Cruz argued the shuttle belonged in Houston, home of the Johnson Space Center and Mission Control, to recognize the city's importance to space flight and give thousands of visitors to 'engage with a living piece of NASA's history and understand why Houston is known worldwide as 'Space City.'' The parliamentarian also knocked out of the bill several provisions that provided guidelines about how broadband spectrum is auctioned.
France 24
17 hours ago
- Business
- France 24
Republican discord threatens Trump agenda
Trump is hoping to seal his legacy with the so-called "One, Big Beautiful Bill" -- extending his expiring first-term tax cuts at a cost of $4.5 trillion and beefing up border security. But Republicans eying 2026 midterm congressional elections are divided over the package, which would strip health care from millions of the poorest Americans and add more than $3 trillion to America's burgeoning debt pile. Trump ratcheted up pressure on Congress to get the package to his desk by July 4, posting on social media Friday: "We can get it done. It will be a wonderful Celebration for our Country." Senate Republican leaders had planned to begin a weekend of votes beginning Friday to pass the sprawling legislation but that timetable was in limbo, with negotiations mired in rows. Republicans are using an arcane process called "reconciliation" which allows them to pass the package on a simple majority, without Democratic buy-in. But there are strict rules governing the provisions allowed in such legislation, adjudicated by the chamber's independent "referee," Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough. The savings come largely from decimating funding for Medicaid, the health insurance program for low-income Americans, but MacDonough called some of those cuts out-of-bounds. That leaves around $250 billion in savings on the cutting room floor, and Republicans scrambling to offset the $4.5 trillion cost of Trump's tax relief elsewhere. Republicans are split in any case on the Medicaid cuts, which will threaten scores of rural hospitals and lead to an estimated 8.6 million Americans being deprived of health care. Independent analysis also shows that the bill would pave the way for a historic redistribution of wealth from the poorest 10 percent of Americans to the richest. It is unpopular across multiple demographic, age and income groups, according to extensive recent polling. Although the House has already passed its own version, both chambers have to agree on the same text before it can be signed into law. Republican leaders worked Friday to hammer out a version that can get a quick rubber-stamp in the House without returning to the negotiating table. But more than a dozen House Republicans -- enough to tank the package -- have said they will not vote for the Medicaid cuts. Meanwhile, there are conservatives in both chambers who are adamant that the cuts do not go far enough. "Every Republican senator is committed," Trump said at a White House press conference Friday. But he acknowledged the bill's precarious status, telling reporters that "a couple of grandstanders" could derail his plans. © 2025 AFP
Car and Driver
18 hours ago
- Automotive
- Car and Driver
USPS EV Trucks Are Still Funny-Looking, Now Harder to Kill Off
A new ruling by the U.S. Senate parliamentarian requires a supermajority to scrap existing U.S. Postal Service EV plans. There are 7200 EVs in the USPS fleet, with new replacements for the old fleet coming in at a split of 50/50 for EV and combustion power. The Oshkosh Next Gen delivery van has polarizing styling, but the mail carriers love it. The battle over the U.S. Postal Service's electrification plans had a new front drawn recently, with U.S. Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough declaring that a supermajority vote would be required to scrap existing EVs and charging infrastructure. Currently, the USPS has purchased 7200 EVs and spent $500 million on charging infrastructure, and the tax and spending bill before Congress had been looking to overturn the electrification mandate set under the Biden administration. That mandate laid out provisions for a minimum of 45,000 electric delivery vans, with an additional 10,000 Ford E-Transit vans ordered on top of that figure. The USPS fleet of 160,000 delivery vehicles has been being replaced with a near 50/50 split between EVs and combustion-powered machines, and by next year the replacements would be all EVs. The original Grumman LLV delivery vans used by the USPS were an improvement over the buckboard Jeep DJs they replaced, but that replacement dates back to the 1970s. The Oshkosh Next Generation Delivery Vehicles might look like background traffic in a Pixar film, but they are a huge improvement for comfort and safety, and already beloved by mail carriers. Caleb Miller | Car and Driver Politics aside, electrification of mail delivery is one of the more easily planned fleet rollouts. A fire truck, ambulance, or other emergency service vehicle may service a particular area, but it doesn't have a set route. A mail carrier van runs the same path several times a week, so fleet managers can plot out service, charging times, and so on. Further, with all that stopping and starting, battery regeneration saves wear on brakes. Canada Post Canada Post's Morgan Olson C250e electric delivery truck. North of the border, Canada Post has been replacing and supplementing its fleet of hybrid Ford Transit vans with the Morgan Olson C250 (above). Available as the all-electric C250e, with a battery-powered driveline sourced from Rivian, this conventional step van isn't as radical-looking as the USPS Next Gen machine, but it serves the same purpose and is based on the same pragmatic reasoning. With a supermajority requirement in place, the USPS fleet replacement rules will likely generate further legislation around timelines, with more debate to be had. The USPS points out that simply canceling contracts, mothballing existing vehicles, and ripping up infrastructure would create considerable waste, some $1.5 billion lost. Scott Olson via Getty Grumman LLV trucks are outdated. Meanwhile, the era of the Grumman LLV simply can't persist. Especially in these hot summer months, the vans are too hot, too hard on mail carriers, and are built to 1970s safety standards. Whether pure battery EV, hybrid, or small-displacement combustion power, neither rain nor heat nor gloom of night nor political wrangling will stay the USPS fleet from its much needed modernization. Brendan McAleer Contributing Editor Brendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British automobiles, came of age in the golden era of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machinery, whether it is the racing career of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki's half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to be perpetually buying Hot Wheels. Read full bio
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
House GOP hard-liners fume at Senate parliamentarian's Medicaid rulings
Hard-line House conservatives are fuming at the Senate parliamentarian's decision to reject key Medicaid cuts in the upper chamber's version of the 'big, beautiful bill,' urging their GOP colleagues to overrule the Senate referee — which would be a major departure from typical protocol. Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough issued her latest ruling Thursday morning, dealing a blow to major parts of the megabill, including shooting down a proposal to cap states' use of health care provider taxes to collect more federal Medicaid funding, a provision championed by conservatives that would have generated billions of dollars in savings to pay for President Trump's tax cuts. She also struck down an effort to restrict Medicare and Medicaid coverage for immigrants who are not citizens, among other provisions. Republicans can rework the provisions that were rejected in an attempt to make them compliant with the budget reconciliation rules, a move that could salvage some of the party's plans. For now, however, the ruling is reverberating through GOP circles on Capitol Hill: Conservatives are seething, moderates are quietly breathing a sigh of relief, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is rethinking the bill's path toward passage in the upper chamber. Thune has said the upper chamber will not move to overrule the parliamentarian — 'that would not be a good outcome for getting a bill done,' he told reporters Thursday morning — but conservatives in both chambers are upping the pressure on their colleagues to challenge the referee's ruling on the floor. 'How is it that an unelected swamp bureaucrat, who was appointed by [former Sen.] Harry Reid [D-Nev.] over a decade ago, gets to decide what can and cannot go in President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill?' Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) wrote on social platform X. 'The Senate Parliamentarian is not elected. She is not accountable to the American people. Yet she holds veto power over legislation supported by millions of voters.' 'It is time for our elected leaders to take back control. @JDVance should overrule the Parliamentarian and let the will of the people, not some staffer hiding behind Senate procedure, determine the future of this country,' he added. Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas) was more succinct, writing on X: 'The rogue Senate Parliamentarian should be overruled, just like activist judges.' 'Her word isn't law—just advice,' he added in a separate post. 'Senate Republicans: ignore her and deliver on President Trump's agenda, backed by 77M Americans!' Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) went a step further, saying MacDonough should be fired from her post. 'This is not about partisanship, it is about rule of law. She has failed to apply the rules of reconciliation accurately on multiple occasions. @LeaderJohnThune should fire her NOW,' he added in a post on X. It is not just House Republicans aiming their anger at the parliamentarian. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), who is running for governor of Alabama, said 'THE SENATE PARLIAMENTARIAN SHOULD BE FIRED ASAP,' calling MacDonough 'WOKE.' Overturning the parliamentarian would require support from at least 51 senators on the floor. The senator presiding over the chamber, known as the chair, could issue a ruling that contrasts with the parliamentarian's decision, which would have to be sustained with 51 votes to move forward. Senators in both parties have called for the parliamentarian to be overruled in recent years. In 2022, Democrats tried to overrule the parliamentarian when they were working to pass their marquee bill known as the Inflation Reduction Act. MacDonough was first appointed Senate parliamentarian in 2012, becoming the first woman to hold the position. Then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) elevated her to the position. Thune downplayed her Thursday ruling as small hitches in the party's path to passing Trump's megabill. 'These are … short-term setbacks,' he said. 'Speed bumps, if you will. We're focused on the goal.' Asked if the ruling would change his plans to bring the legislation to the floor for an initial vote Friday, Thune responded: 'We'll see … We'll see how it all lands.' Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), meanwhile, recognized that the ruling does not help the GOP's plans to fast-track the package. 'Well it doesn't make it easier, but you know me, hope springs eternal and we're gonna work around the clock and try to meet that deadline, because I think that's the way we should do it,' he told reporters. The House leader would not say directly if he thinks his Senate GOP colleagues should overrule the parliamentarian's decision, leaving the high-stakes play call to the upper chamber. 'If only that were our decision,' he said when asked by The Hill if Senate Republicans should overrule the parliamentarian. 'The senators have to make that call. I mean, I can make a case for it but no one's asked me for that.' Some moderate House Republicans, meanwhile, are privately cheering on the parliamentarian's ruling, which broke in their direction. Several centrist GOP lawmakers raised concerns about the provider tax provisions, warning that they would not support a product that included the language. 'This moves the bill in a more positive direction and allows us the ability to focus on other areas of the bill we would like to fix,' one moderate House Republican told The Hill. MacDonough is steadily parsing through the GOP's 'big, beautiful bill' to determine which provisions comply with the budget reconciliation rules. Republicans are looking to use the budget reconciliation process to pass key parts of Trump's legislative agenda, since the procedure allows GOP senators to circumvent a Democratic filibuster. If the parliamentarian rules that a provision is not compliant, however, then it requires 60 votes for passage — essentially forcing Republicans to remove it from the sprawling package. With those strict rules, several hard-line conservatives in the House are torching the parliamentarian's decision, arguing that MacDonough does not have the authority to dictate the party's policy decisions. 'An unelected bureaucrat appointed by radical Harry Reid is stripping hard-fought conservative wins from the OBBB. This is politically motivated,' Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) wrote on X, referring to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. 'A Senate staffer DOES NOT have the authority to overturn the will of 77 million voters.' Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), a former chair of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, railed against the parliamentarian's Medicaid ruling in addition to her decision to strip a provision that sought to make it more difficult for courts to enforce lawsuits against the Trump administration. 'First, rogue judges. Now, the Senate parliamentarian's allegedly off the rails, getting in the way of the 'One BBB,' and slashing the reforms / cuts that 77 million Americans voted for in November,' Perry wrote on X. 'Unelected bureaucrats need to stop meddling in America's legislative process.' '[T]he UN-ELECTED Senate Parliamentarian used the Byrd Rule, meaning these Trump agenda priorities, that deliver our campaign promises, need to be stripped out of the One Big Beautiful Bill,' Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) echoed on X. 'The UN-ELECTED Deep State bureaucrats, radical far left activist judges, and America LAST Democrats are doing everything they can to destroy President Trump and THE PEOPLE'S agenda!!!' She later added, 'Leader Thune needs to fire the Senate Parliamentarian, which he can!' Democrats, meanwhile, cheered Thursday morning's ruling, arguing the decision struck down a provision that would have hurt constituents across the country. 'Major victory!' Rep. Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.) wrote on X. 'Republicans tried to gut a key funding source for Medicaid in states like Arizona—the 'provider tax.' This would've been catastrophic for patients & providers. But today, the nonpartisan Senate Parliamentarian ruled that scheme won't fly. We're going to keep fighting this.' Al Weaver contributed. This story was updated at 12:41 pm. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
