Joe.My.God. LGBT News
USA Today reports:
When members of Congress return to Washington on June 2 after a weeklong break, the upper chamber will dig into the more than 1,000-page bill that would extend income tax cuts, implement new tax breaks for tipped wages and overtime, overhaul Medicaid and food stamps, and put more money toward Trump’s deportation plan.
Some Republican senators, such as Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Rick Scott of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah and Rand Paul of Kentucky have major concerns with the $3.8 trillion the package would add to the debt over the next 10 years. Others, such as Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, are worried about the potential changes to Medicaid.
The Hill reports:
Senate Democrats are warning ahead of the fight that if Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) makes an end run around the parliamentarian to make Trump’s tax cuts permanent, it would seriously undermine the filibuster and open the door to Democrats rewriting Senate rules in the future.
Senate Republicans argue that it’s up to Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) to set the budgetary baseline for the bill. They say it’s not up to the parliamentarian to determine whether extending the 2017 Trump tax cuts should be scored as adding to the deficit.
If Graham determines that extending Trump’s tax cuts should be judged as an extension of current policy and therefore is budget neutral, it would allow Republicans to make the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent, which is a top priority of Thune and Senate Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho).
Politico reports:
The Senate’s deficit hawks might be raising the loudest hue and cry over the GOP’s “big, beautiful bill.” But another group of Republicans is poised to have a bigger impact on the final legislative product. Call them the “Medicaid moderates.”
They’re actually an ideologically diverse bunch — ranging from conservative Josh Hawley of Missouri to centrist Susan Collins of Maine. Yet they have found rare alignment over concerns about what the House-passed version of the GOP domestic-policy megabill does to the national safety-net health program, and they have the leverage to force significant changes in the Senate.
Besides Hawley and Collins, other GOP senators including Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Jerry Moran of Kansas and Jim Justice of West Virginia have also drawn public red lines over health care.
Trump has claimed he wants to stop cuts to Medicaid.
The “Medicaid moderates” are the senators to watch on the megabill – POLITICO https://t.co/7Vl9kOTBb6
— Amandasatiro (@Amandasatiro07) June 2, 2025