WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says “NO ONE GOES ON VACATION” until the big, beautiful bill is on his desk by the Fourth of July deadline. And Republicans in Congress are staying put to get it done.
The Senate is gearing up for weekend work, while House Speaker Mike Johnson told lawmakers Tuesday to keep their schedules “flexible” as they prepare for more votes.
“We are making good headway,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. He expects the Senate will get this “past the finish line” by the end of the week, sending it back to the House for swift action.
But Republicans who have majority control of the House and Senate are finding that their push to move fast and change things — namely cuts to federal government programs including Medicaid and SNAP food stamps used by millions of Americans — is easier said than done.
Not all GOP lawmakers are on board, and the Senate parliamentarian has advised that several key proposals violate procedural rules. With Democrats flatly opposed, it’s all leaving GOP leaders scrambling days before final votes.
Here’s the latest on what’s in, out and still up for debate as lawmakers work to finish the massive 1,000-page plus package.
What’s the goal of the big bill? Tax cuts.
The top priority for Republicans is preventing what they warn would be a massive tax hike, some $3.8 trillion, after December when the tax breaks they put in place during Trump’s first term, in 2017, expire.
The big bill seeks to make existing tax rates and brackets permanent, while also temporarily adding new ones Trump campaigned on — no taxes on tips, overtime pay or some automotive loans, along with a bigger $6,000 deduction in the Senate draft for seniors who earn no more than $75,000 a year.
The wealthiest households would see a $12,000 increase, while the bill would cost the poorest people $1,600 a year, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Middle income taxpayers would see a tax break of $500 to $1,500, CBO said.
One provision for families would boost the $2,000 child tax credit to $2,200 under the Senate proposal or $2,500 in the House. But families at lower income levels won’t see the full amount, if any.
And one unresolved issue is the House’s proposed $40,000 cap on state and local deductions, called SALT, that GOP senators say is too high and want limited.
The bill also funds deportations, border wall and Trump’s heroes garden
There’s also some $350 billion of new funding in the package for Trump’s border and national security agenda.
Trump promises the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history, and the package proposes money to hire 10,000 new Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, with $10,000 signing bonuses, and for 100,000 immigration detention beds with a goal of deporting some 1 million people a year.
Additionally, the House bill proposes $12 billion for the Homeland Security secretary to provide grants to states that help with federal immigration enforcement and deportation actions. The Senate package also provides the attorney general with $3.5 billion to create a similar state fund — called Bridging Immigration-related Deficits Experienced Nationwide, or Biden, referring to the former president.
There’s also money for the development of Trump’s “Golden Dome” missile defense system over the U.S., and quality of life measures for servicemen and women.
And there are extras: One provision from the Senate would provide $40 million to establish Trump’s long-sought “National Garden of American Heroes.”
How to pay for it? Cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and green energy programs
To help partly offset the lost tax revenue, Republicans are seeking to cut back some long-running government programs — Medicaid, food stamps and green energy incentives — basically unraveling the accomplishments of the past two Democratic presidents: Joe Biden and Barack Obama.
Republicans argue they are trying to right-size the safety net programs for the population they were initially designed to serve — mainly pregnant women and children — and root out waste, fraud and abuse.
The package includes new 80 hour a month work requirements for many adults receiving Medicaid and food stamps, including older people up to age 65. Parents of children older than 10 would have to work to qualify for food aid, and those with teens would have to comply with the work requirement for Medicaid.
“It’s wildly popular,” Johnson said Tuesday, noting people can work, volunteer or go to school or job training programs. “For heaven’s sake, do something constructive.”
Some 80 million Americans rely on Medicaid, which expanded under Obama’s Affordable Care Act, and 40 million use the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, and most already work, according to analysts.
All told, the CBO estimates at least 10.9 million more people would go without health coverage, and 3 million more would not qualify for food stamps.
Deeper SNAP cuts that would shift cost-sharing to the states were called into question by the Senate parliamentarian and undergoing revisions. And more Medicaid changes are up for debate — including a Senate plan to reduce the so-called provider tax that most states impose on hospitals and other entities.
Key GOP senators and a coalition of House Republicans warn that lower Medicaid provider tax cuts will hurt rural hospitals. “We cannot support a final bill that threatens access to coverage,” said 16 House GOP lawmakers in a letter to leadership.
Senators are considering the creation of a new rural hospital fund, but the plan remains a work in progress.
Both the House and Senate bills propose a dramatic rollback of the Biden-era green energy tax breaks for electric vehicles and also the production and investment tax credits companies use to stand up wind, solar and other renewable energy projects.
All told, the cuts to Medicaid, food stamps and green energy programs are expected to produce some $1.3 trillion in savings over the decade, CBO said.
What’s the final cost?
Altogether, keeping the existing tax breaks and adding the new ones is expected to cost $3.8 trillion over the decade, CBO says in its analysis of the House bill. The Senate draft is slightly higher.
The spending cuts tally at least $1.5 trillion.
The CBO estimates the package from the House would add $2.4 trillion to the nation’s deficits over the decade.
Or not, depending on how one does the math.
Senate Republicans are proposing a unique strategy of not counting the existing tax breaks as a new cost, because they’re already “current policy.” They argue the Budget Committee chairman has the authority to set the baseline for its preferred approach.
Under the Senate GOP view, the cost of tax provisions would be $441 billion, according to the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation.
Democrats and others argue this is “magic math” that obscures the costs of the GOP tax breaks. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget puts the Senate tally at $4.2 trillion over the decade.
“Current policy baseline’ is a budget gimmick,” said Sen. Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the Budget Committee. “This bill will add trillions upon trillions of dollars to the national debt to fund tax breaks for billionaires.”
Trump, en route to Europe for a NATO meeting, told senators to lock themselves in a room if needed, and “GET THE BILL DONE.”
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Associated Press writesr Darlene Superville and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.
