Congress

Megabill timeline in flux as House and Senate spar over changes

Published

1 year ago

June 11, 2025

Republicans’ ambitious July 4 target for their sweeping domestic policy legislation is facing new doubts this week as GOP leaders in the House and Senate push and pull over changes to the complex megabill.

Speaker Mike Johnson said in an interview Wednesday that while he believed Republicans were “on track” for final passage by the self-imposed deadline, he said that depended on the Senate approving a bill that hews close to the version that passed the House last month.

“We’ll see what they produce,” Johnson said, adding: “I just need them to come to their final decisions on everything. So we’ll see how it shapes up.”

Privately, top leadership aides believe that while the Senate could still finish its work by July 4, the process might take several more weeks — or months — if the Senate departs dramatically from the House product.

Among the open questions leaders are working through is the endgame for final passage of the bill. Top officials in the House, Senate and White House all want to avoid another big fight over the bill in the House and another round of “pingpong” where the bill goes back and forth between the two chambers.

The hope is to incorporate any final negotiations into the Senate version, so the House can take a vote on final approval only, without any making changes. But to do that, the two chambers would have to resolve key fights — including over the level of spending cuts, business tax cut extensions and the cap on the state-and-local-tax deduction — in advance.

In an ideal scenario, Senate Republicans would offer a “wraparound” amendment reflecting a bicameral agreement at the end of the long series of amendment votes known as “vote-a-rama” — allowing for a relatively fast up-or-down vote in the House.

The alternative would be entering into a much lengthier conference between the two chambers after Senate passage — negotiations that leaders fear could add weeks, if not months, to the process. While several GOP senators have floated a conference, leaders have repeatedly tamped down the idea.

Johnson declined to weigh in on the procedural questions Wednesday: “I’m in constant communication with [Senate GOP leaders], but there’s still a lot of question marks over it.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in an interview that his team, as well as key Senate committee chairs, are working with Johnson to avoid a scenario where the House makes changes to the bill that passes the Senate. That includes weekly meetings, and more frequent phone calls, with the speaker and his team.

“There’s just a lot of coordination to hopefully avoid some of the potential snafus that could happen with something that’s this complicated,” Thune said.

For example, Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) is meeting with Senate GOP leadership staff Wednesday to discuss the House’s proposed increase to the SALT cap ahead of the Senate vote. Meanwhile, House GOP rebels Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Scott Perry (R-Pa.) met with Senate GOP fiscal hawks Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) Tuesday night as they push the Senate to carve out deeper spending cuts and maintain the House’s rollback of clean energy tax credits.

The White House is keeping pressure on, as well. Trump border czar Tom Homan attended a Senate GOP lunch Wednesday, underscoring the need for the additional immigration enforcement funding in the bill.

Senate committees chairs continue to roll out pieces of the bill this week, with all eyes on Finance Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), whose panel is handling the thorniest parts of the legislation and might not release text until next week. Thune and other GOP leaders are already planning to use next week to negotiate additional changes to the bill in the lead-up to floor action the following week.

Both Johnson and Thune met separately with President Donald Trump on Monday. Afterward, even the president acknowledged during a White House event that the July 4 timeline could slip.

“If it takes a little longer, that’s OK,” Trump said.

Congress

Capitol agenda: Republicans brace for Trump’s wrath

Published

6 hours ago

August 10, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

President Donald Trump has held his fire since senators skipped town for five weeks without advancing his elections security bill. Some Republicans don’t expect that to last.

Senators punted until at least September any vote on a framework for a third party-line spending bill that includes parts of the SAVE America Act, rather than hold a failed vote.

Whether Trump accepts that explanation is entirely unclear.

Some Republicans privately are prepared for the mercurial president’s yearslong obsession with the election measure to resurface over the recess and risk further inflaming the party’s base just months before GOP senators need those same voters to turn out.

“That would be consistent with his approach,” Sen. Mike Rounds said about the possibility. But “we also know the votes aren’t there,” he added.

Senate conservatives tried different ways to appease the president before leaving.

Budget Chair Ron Johnson said they spoke directly with Trump before pulling the plug on any vote as they struggled to corral support to advance a budget resolution. Johnson said Trump blessed delaying the vote to September.

And Majority Leader John Thune called up a vote on a simpler voter ID bill that unifies the GOP conference, rather than the more complex SAVE America Act that includes provisions restricting mail-in voting, for example, that some in the party don’t support.

Still, some Republicans don’t believe it’ll be enough to satisfy Trump given his relentless focus on nixing the filibuster and passing the election bill, a hardball strategy that there also isn’t sufficient support for within the conference.

One GOP senator, who requested anonymity to speak candidly, said Thune wanted to hold a vote on the voter ID bill because “he thinks it will give us cover with the president.”

“I think he’s wrong,” the senator added.

Asked if he thought the voter ID bill vote would satisfy Trump, Thune said in an interview “good question, but I think if they want votes, we’ll try and get votes, but I can’t guarantee outcomes.”

Sen. Mike Lee and other conservatives continue trying to twist the conference’s arm, vowing to “keep fighting” for the GOP bill and to renew the effort once the chamber returns.

But Trump and his allies’ continued focus on legislation that doesn’t have the votes to pass has frustrated many Republicans, who worry that strategy is sowing division rather than uniting the party against Democrats that they need to defeat.

“I hear what the administration is saying,” Sen. Thom Tills said. “I look at political data almost every day of the week. …I don’t see [the SAVE America Act] as one of the major factors that are going to get out to the polls.”

What else we’re watching:

— HOURS LEFT FOR MILLER DROP-OUT WATCH: Rep. Max Miller has less than 12 hours to drop out of his race and let Ohio party leaders replace his name on the November ballot. So far, Miller is signaling that’s not going to happen. The Ohio Republican has until 4 p.m. Monday to drop out of his race for reelection in the Cleveland suburb district. But Miller has remained defiant amid allegations of domestic abuse from Emily Moreno, his ex-wife and the daughter of Ohio GOP Sen. Bernie Moreno.

— HEGSETH FAILS TO WIN GOP BUDGET SUPPORT — Senators began their break no closer to enacting the crown jewel of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s agenda: a record-breaking $1.5 trillion defense budget. Hegseth hasn’t persuaded Republicans to steamroll Democrats and advance the money in a party-line plan, despite regularly trekking to Blue Light News and hobnobbing with lawmakers. Instead, an increasingly vocal group of GOP lawmakers argue the administration hasn’t explained why Republicans should burn valuable political capital in pursuit of Trump’s vision — especially with the midterms just months away.

Jordain Carney, Mia McCarthy, Connor O’Brien and Mark Satter contributed to this report.

Congress

Senate confirms Blanche as attorney general

Published

2 days ago

August 8, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The Senate Saturday confirmed Todd Blanche to be attorney general, following a weeks-long struggle with a handful of wary Republicans.

The Senate voted 50-49 to approve him, with GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joining with Democrats in opposition.

Blanche, President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, has been serving as acting attorney general since Pam Bondi’s ouster in April. Questions about Blanche’s potential conflicts of interest from representing Trump, as well as his role in the creation of a $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” as part of Trump’s settlement this spring with the IRS, created headwinds to his confirmation among a key group of Senate Republicans.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana Republican who lost re-election after Trump endorsed a primary challenger, helped Blanche clinch his 50th vote Friday. He said Blanche wasn’t perfect but that he wasn’t sure Trump would pick someone better to lead the Justice Department.

“The choice is not between perfection and Mr. Blanche,” Cassidy said on the Senate floor. “It is between Mr. Blanche and another acting attorney general who may not run the department effectively under President Trump and who indeed may not be as good as Mr. Blanche.”

Cassidy’s support came after Blanche had already spent weeks negotiating with Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and John Cornyn of Texas, who vetted his nomination as members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Cornyn struck an agreement with Blanche Sunday for the DOJ to curtail the payout fund and rein in a deal to exempt Trump from IRS audits.

Cassidy’s support came hours after Murkowski announced that she would oppose Blanche’s nomination, putting it on the brink of potential failure. Between unified opposition from Democrats and Sen. Mitch McConnell’s absence for health reasons, Blanche could only lose two Republicans and still be confirmed.

Hours before Friday’s vote, Murkowski told reporters she spoke with Blanche multiple times but that she was “good with where I am.” She said there was no “one” thing that motivated her decision.

“If there was one thing, we might be able to go back to the White House and say ‘Hey, can we work on this one thing,’” she said. “But for me it was a compilation.”

She added that she believed the anti-weaponization fund is “pretty dead” but “what is not so clear” are the audit immunity provisions of Trump’s IRS agreement, “which I just think are viewed by so many in this country as kind of a special and sweet deal for the president and his family.”

Congress

Senate passes funding bill to avert October shutdown

Published

2 days ago

August 8, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The Senate passed a bill Saturday to fund the government beyond the midterm elections, putting the onus back on the House to head off a shutdown looming Oct. 1.

The Senate approved the measure in a bipartisan 90-6 vote, with Sen. Darline Graham of South Carolina voting present. The bill would fund federal agencies through Dec. 11 at current levels, with some exceptions. Senate leaders sped up consideration of the legislation as part of an agreement reached Saturday morning to allow members to leave for August recess.

The House and Senate have now each passed different bills aimed at averting a shutdown at the end of the fiscal year. The House bill would fund the government through Dec. 4.

The Senate legislation sets up a year-end standoff over the Trump administration’s controversial plan to put political appointees in charge of approving federal grants. The bill would block the administration from finalizing that rule during the length of the stopgap — and lawmakers are already expecting a December brawl over the issue.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said this week that he’s going to “fight like hell” in December to ensure Congress doesn’t further obstruct the grant overhaul.

But lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are resistant to the White House approach to grants. Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she will “continue to oppose” the Trump administration plans “because I think they politicize the grants process, and I don’t want that to occur.” Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democrat on Senate Appropriations, said she too would “welcome the fight.”

The Senate rejected an amendment from Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) intended to ensure that a ban on intoxicating hemp products kicks in come November, after Senate leaders at the White House’s urging included language in the funding bill to delay it.

The Senate bill includes language Democrats sought to ensure Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol don’t get any new funding under the patch. Republicans enacted $70 billion for those agencies along party lines earlier this year.

That prohibition could be contentious in the House.

Rep. John Rutherford (R-Fla.) said in an interview that the provision “could be a dealbreaker” and that he’s “not a fan” of the Senate version. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) said Tuesday that he would say he’s undecided if GOP leadership whipped his vote on the Senate stopgap.

“I do not like the Senate language,” Van Drew said, noting the grant approval provision. “It’s one I would want to know what the president thinks.”

The White House issued a statement of administration policy in support of the Senate’s funding bill. No such memo was issued for the House bill, which did not include the funding increases and authorizations the White House requested.

“Every Member of Congress should support passage of this [continuing resolution] to keep the Government open as discussions on full year appropriations continue,” it reads.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the top Democratic appropriator in the House, praised the Senate measure for including the grant and immigration enforcement language.

“This bill is a clear improvement over the House Republican continuing resolution, but we are still nearly two months away from the end of the fiscal year and should be working together to pass full-year funding bills,” she said in a statement.

Mia McCarthy and Jennifer Scholtes contributed to this report.