House Speaker Mike Johnson, left, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (RSS D. J. Scott Applewhite / AP Closed subtitles
The legislative fate of enacting President Trump’s domestic policy agenda moved this week to the Republican-controlled Senate, where a handful of Republican spending Hawks criticized the president’s Big Bill’s price tag, which would increase Treasury bonds through trillions of dollars and call for change.
In May, the House narrowly passed a “large bill” that would reduce taxes, increase border and military spending, while reducing spending on low-income, seniors and Americans with disabilities in the joint federal/state health care program Medicaid.
In the budgeting process, a comprehensive plan is being carried out through a budgeting process called a settlement. It allows Senate Republicans to pass through a 100-member chamber with a simple majority, rather than demanding a de facto 60 votes for the body.
In fact, this allows Republicans to move forward without any support from Democratic lawmakers. But as Republicans insist on a narrow position in the Senate, Majority Leader John Thune (Rs.d.
Senator Ron Johnson told Fox News on Sunday that the bill was “completely unsustainable” and he plans to hold a hearing before a full-scale vote in the Senate. In CBS News, R-Ky. Senator Rand Paul said he believes there are enough Republican opposition to change the bill passed by the House.
At the heart of the Republican bill is an extension of President Trump's 2017 tax cuts. The plan also hopes to make a good attitude toward several of the Trump campaign commitments, including a temporary cessation of taxes on tips and overtime for the rest of the Trump presidency.
According to an analysis of the bill's tax provisions by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, tax changes in the plan will increase the deficit - the gap between the difference in tax revenue and the difference in spending over the next 10 years.
The White House and several Republican lawmakers also criticized the CBO estimate.
Since the House passed the bill, technology billionaire Elon Musk has had an expected impact on the deficit, and JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has also had an impact on the deficit. Speaking at the Economic Forum on Friday, Dimon warned that continuing government spending would create a “crisis” in the bond market, undermining public confidence in the U.S. government’s ability to repay debts.
Senator Johnson agreed.
"This is totally unsustainable," Johnson told Fox News on Sunday. "I agree with Jamie Dimon here."
Johnson said he wanted to return spending to pre-pandemic levels and split the House bill into two separate Senate bills. When asked if he would "bomb" Trump's agenda, Johnson said he supported the president but disagreed with the House bill.
"My loyalty is loyalty to the American people, my children and grandchildren," Johnson said. "We cannot continue to mortgage their future."
Senator Paul said he and Johnson weren’t the only Republican senators that had an impact on the House bill’s deficit.
"I think there are four people right now, and I would be very surprised if the bill was at least not modified in a good direction," Paul told CBS News.
On Saturday, Trump warned on social media that if Senator Paul voted on the bill, “the great people of Kentucky will never forgive him!”
Paul has been criticized by a bill that stipulates that the country's debt limit will be increased by $4 trillion. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the country could run out of currency to pay its bills and trigger a potential financial crisis by August if Congress does not lift the limit before that.
Speech on CBS Facing the country On Sunday, Bessent tried to ease Republican concerns about the deficit.
"The deficit this year will be lower than last year's deficit and will be lowered again in two years. We will slowly lower the deficit," he said.
The House bill attempts to cut tens of billions of dollars in Medicaid spending by introducing new job requirements, shortening enrollment and eliminating what Republicans call "waste, fraud and abuse" in the system.
The CBO analysis of previously raising job requirements for job requirements predicts that despite the reduction of federal costs, the number of workers will remain the same. State costs will increase significantly due to the implementation and management of new requirements.
Some Republicans are concerned about Medicaid changes that exceed their costs. The debate on Medicaid almost killed the House bill, and in the Senate, the issue is equally controversial.
In May, Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) The New York Times The major cuts to Medicaid are “morally wrong and politically suicide.”
“Republicans need to open their eyes: Our voters support social insurance plans,” Hawley wrote in a view. “More than that, our voters rely on these plans.”
However, Hawley has since believed that Medicaid job requirements are not considered cuts.
On Friday, R-Iowa Senator Joni Ernst defended the House bill and its defense of Medicaid during its sensational town hall in Iowa.
"When you argue about the unincorporated persons who are getting Medicaid benefits, there are 1.4 million people (people) ... they are not eligible, so they will stand out."
Then someone in the crowd yelled, “People will die.”
"Well, we'll all die," Ernst replied, which drew the audience's ridicule.
The exchange was all the rage and highlighted the political risks of Medicaid. Democrats have since criticized Ernst's response.
The Republican bill may also face Senate changes due to the quirks in the reconciliation process known as Bird's rule - named after the late Democratic Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia. The purpose of this rule is to eliminate legislation that has no impact on the deficit. It allows senators to provide amendments to certain aspects of the settlement bill.
While it is unclear what parts of the Bird Rules will suffer from the House Bill, some non-budgetary measures may be at risk. These include measures on House bills, such as AI regulations, judicial power, gun regulations and family planning.
If the Senate changes legislation and passes a changed version of the bill, it must be returned to the House for final approval.
Congressional Republicans hope to collect the bill from President Trump’s desk by July 4.