Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is sticking to his ambitious schedule of getting the reconciliation legislation to President Trump’s desk by July 4, even as he faces objections from GOP colleagues and the Senate parliamentarian to key provisions in the bill. Thune is continuing his effort pushing to get the budget reconciliation bill on the floor by the weekend. Republican senators are racing to work out their disagreements over Medicaid, renewable energy tax breaks, state and local tax deductions and a host of other provisions before the bill comes to the Senate floor. Once approved by the Senate, the House must also approve it or send it back with amendments to the Senate.
Medicaid is looming as an intractable issue as several Republican senators have continued to express strong concerns about cuts to the program. In the latest blow to the effort, the Senate Parliamentarian has rejected key Medicaid provisions in the mega bill.
The Parliamentarian, who serves as the referee deciding which provisions in the “One Big Beautiful Bill” meet the rules for inclusion in reconciliation legislation, rejected a plan to cap states’ use of health care provider taxes to collect more federal Medicaid funding. A number of changes to Medicaid and other cost cutting provisions have also been ruled ineligible for inclusion in the bill.
Medicaid revisions are expected to provide a significant portion of the hundreds of billions of dollars in spending cuts needed to offset the cost of making President Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent and support increased defense and border security funding.
The parliamentarian’s decision appears to be a significant setback that could delay a vote on the bill. Thune told reporters that Republicans will not attempt to overrule her determination but will continue the process to find acceptable cost cutting initiatives. Republican senators demanding additional changes have said they won’t vote to begin the floor process until these concerns are addressed and they see final legislative text.
President Trump held an event in the White House East Room Thursday to call for passage of the “big, beautiful bill” by July 4th. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) was at the event, as well as Cabinet secretaries including Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.