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The Hill
3 hours ago
- Business
- The Hill
Vance breaks 50-50 tie as Senate passes GOP megabill after voting around the clock
Vice President Vance cast the tie-breaking vote as Senate Republicans on Tuesday delivered a huge legislative victory for President Trump by passing his One Big, Beautiful Bill Act after hours of tense negotiations that lasted through the night. The legislation appeared to be on the cusp of failing on the floor after Senate GOP leaders spent hours trying to hash out a compromise with Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an independent minded Republican, who worried that the legislation's deep cuts to Medicaid and federal food assistance funding would hurt her home state. At one point, Murkowski could be heard talking about the 'vulnerable' on her phone as she walked briskly through the Capitol, avoiding reporters. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and his leadership team, including Senate Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), thought they had secured Murkowski's vote by crafting language to shield Alaska from the full brunt of Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) cuts. But that initial plan was derailed by Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, who ruled the way the Republican SNAP waivers and enhanced Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) were crafted to help Alaska violated the Byrd Rule, which determines what legislation may be included in a budget reconciliation package. GOP negotiators spent the Monday night reworking the Alaska-targeted Medicaid and SNAP provisions in a way that could win approval from both the parliamentarian and Murkowski — an arduous process that took hours while the Senate plowed through a marathon series of votes that started at 9:30 Monday morning. Republican negotiators and the parliamentarian agreed to rework the waivers for SNAP funding cuts so that it would apply more broadly than to just Alaska and Hawaii. The parliamentarian rejected the language targeting just two states. The SNAP reworked provision would phase in food assistance funding reductions more slowly for 10 states, including Alaska, that have the highest error rate in delivering benefits. Thune lobbied Murkowski throughout the night and early morning to support the bill. The sprawling package still faces challenges in the House due to deeper cuts to federal Medicaid spending, an accelerated phase-out of clean-energy tax breaks and changes to a deal to raise the cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions. Developing.
The Hill
5 hours ago
- Business
- The Hill
Thune says Senate Republicans have a deal to pass Trump megabill
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters Tuesday morning that he thinks he has a deal with Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) to pass President Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' — but also cautioned he's a 'realist,' indicating that he's not counting anything as finished until the final vote is cast. Asked if he had a deal as he walked from the Senate floor to his office, Thune replied: 'I believe we do.' 'But, like I said, I'm of Scandinavian heritage, so I'm always a bit of a realist. We'll see what happens,' he said. Thune's body language appeared significantly more relaxed after he and Murkowski reviewed a sheet of legislative text on the Senate floor while Senate Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) hovered nearby. A person familiar with the floor conversations said that the Senate parliamentarian had approved revised language to soften the impact of Medicaid cuts and food assistance cuts on Alaska.
The Hill
6 hours ago
- Business
- The Hill
Thune ready for make-or-break vote on Trump megabill
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is ready to proceed with a make-or-break vote on the 940-page GOP megabill to find out for sure where Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) stands on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, according to a person familiar with internal GOP deliberations. The source said the vote could happen 'pretty soon' Tuesday morning and that Republicans are confident that Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough will accept changes made to provisions to ease the impact of Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) cuts on Alaskans. The person familiar with GOP deliberations on how to get the 940-page bill across the finish line said Thune has also explored other 'contingency' plans in case Murkowski votes 'no.' Thune met in the middle of the night with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who is a hard 'no' on the bill unless Republicans strip language to raise the debt ceiling. Republicans have discussed stripping the debt-limit language out of the bill as a last resort if they really need Paul's vote. The Kentucky senator has said he would support the legislation if it raised the debt limit by $500 billion or another small fraction of the $5 trillion that is needed to extend federal borrowing authority past the 2026 midterm election. Thune was spotted speaking to Murkowski at a desk near the back wall of the Senate chamber while the both of them reviewed a sheet of text shortly after 8 a.m. Tuesday. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) also huddled around Murkowski. The intense floor conversations took place about an hour and a half after Vice President JD Vance arrived at the Capitol. With three Republican senators expected to vote against the bill — Paul, Thom Tillis (N.C.) and Susan Collins (Maine) — Murkowski's vote is absolutely critical for the legislation to pass. If Murkowski votes 'yes,' Vance's vote would still be needed to break a 50-50 tie.
The Hill
8 hours ago
- Business
- The Hill
Vance arrives at Capitol as GOP short votes to pass Trump megabill
Vice President JD Vance arrived at the Capitol early Tuesday as Senate Republican leaders had still not locked down the 50 votes needed to pass President Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' after more than 21 hours of voting. 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.
The Hill
14 hours ago
- Business
- The Hill
Senate defeats Collins proposal to raise taxes on highest earners to help rural hospitals
The Senate voted early Tuesday morning to defeat an amendment sponsored by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) to create a new top marginal tax rate for the nation's wealthiest income earners and use the money to double the size of a proposed rural hospital relief fund from $25 billion to $50 billion. Senators voted 22 to 78 against a motion to waive a 60-vote budget point of order against the amendment. Collins's amendment to President Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' would have established a 39.6 percent top marginal rate for individuals with income above $25 million and for married couples with income above $50 million. The amount raised would have fully offset the cost of expanding the relief fund that Senate GOP leaders have proposed to help rural and smaller hospitals around the country that are at risk of bankruptcy because of the steep Medicaid funding cuts in the GOP megabill. 'Rural providers, especially our rural hospitals and nursing homes, are under great financial strain right now, with many having recently closed and others at risk of closing,' Collins said on the Senate floor before the vote. 'When these facilities close their doors, the people they serve are often left behind without access to health care,' she said. Eighteen Republican senators voted in support of the amendment. They were Collins and Sens. Jerry Moran (Kan.), Roger Marshall (Kan.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Dan Sullivan (Alaska), Shelley Moore Capito ( Bill Cassidy (La.), John Kennedy (La.), John Curtis (Utah), Deb Fischer (Neb.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Josh Hawley (Mo.), Jon Husted (Ohio), Bernie Moreno (Ohio), Mitch McConnell (Ky.), Roger Wicker (Miss.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (Miss.) and Todd Young (Ind.). A handful of members of the Democratic caucus also voted for it, including Sens. Angus King (I-Maine), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.). Most Republican and Democratic senators voted against the amendment, however. Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) called it a 'Band-Aid on an amputation.' 'It provides just a tiny fraction of the nearly $1 trillion in cuts the bill will make to Medicaid. It would be much more logical to simply not cut $1 trillion from Medicaid in the first place,' he said.
