Congress
Inside the last-minute changes to the GOP megabill
Shortly before 9 p.m. Wednesday, House Republican leaders unveiled the finishing touches to their “big, beautiful bill” — a 42-page “manager’s amendment” calibrated to win over the final votes they need to advance the bill over to the Senate.
Some of the most significant changes to the tax, energy and border security megabill have to do with closely watched provisions dealing with Medicaid, clean-energy tax credits and the ever-controversial cap on the state-and-local-tax deduction.
But there’s much, much more. Here’s a roundup of other provisions that were tweaked or eliminated in the final hours before the bill hit the floor:
FEDERAL WORKER PENSIONS: The amendment strikes language that would have calculated retirement payments for federal employees based on the average of a worker’s five years of highest income instead of the current three years. Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) and many House Democrats sought the change.
GUN SILENCERS: Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) had already won the elimination of a $200 transfer tax on gun silencers. He got more on Wednesday: It further strikes the $200 tax on the manufacture of gun silencers and otherwise removes them from the regulatory purview of the National Firearms Act.
PUBLIC LANDS: Language inserted by the Natural Resources Committee allowing for sale of public lands in Nevada and Utah was struck. Members in those states wanted the provision, but Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.), a former Interior secretary, stood firm against using land sales to raise revenue for the megabill.
TRUMP ACCOUNTS: The Ways and Means Committee included new tax-advantaged savings vehicles called “money accounts for growth and advancement,” or MAGA Accounts. Well, that’s what they were called, anyway: They’re “Trump Accounts” now — seeing as they were a Trump campaign promise.
TANNING SALONS: The original draft nixed an excise tax on tanning beds that was originally laid out in the Affordable Care Act. The revisions, made after Democrats repeatedly mocked the GOP during a marathon Rules Committee hearing, will keep the tax in place.
REMITTANCE TAX: The amendment scales back a tax on overseas remittances from 5 percent to 3.5 percent. The financial services industry and foreign governments pushed back on the idea, which was set to raise $22 billion.
ABORTION: New language would restrict payments to Affordable Care Act plans that offer abortions outside of cases of rape or incest or to save the life of a mother.
NUCLEAR ENERGY: The revisions mostly toughen the rollback of green energy incentives enacted under former President Joe Biden. But the nuclear industry caught a break, with the softening of some tax credits phase-outs for advanced nuclear reactors, a technology favored by the Trump administration and many congressional Republicans.
Senate Republicans confirmed dozens of President Donald Trump’s nominees Friday, just before they leave for a five-week congressional recess.
Senators voted 51-47 to approve officials at the Departments of Defense, Energy, State and other agencies.
They included David Cummins to head the Transportation Security Administration, Cameron Hamilton to lead the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Hal Duncan to be OMB deputy director and Francis Brooke to be Treasury deputy secretary. Among the group were several ambassadors, including former Rep. David Brat to be ambassador to Australia.
Senate Republicans changed the chamber’s rules last year to be able to confirm lower-level nominees as a package instead of having to hold a vote on each.
After finishing the expedited procedure Friday, Senate Republicans estimate they will only have a small number of civilian nominees awaiting confirmation.
President Donald Trump said voters may seek to punish Republicans — but not him — in the November midterm elections, as GOP lawmakers sweat that affordability concerns and the war in Iran could mean Democrats flip the House and perhaps even the Senate.
“They’re angry at Republicans,” Trump said in an interview with Punchbowl News that aired Friday. “But they’re not angry at me. They’re not angry at me, but they are angry at Republicans.”
The GOP faces the prospect of heavy losses this November, as gas and grocery prices remain stubbornly high due in part to the White House’s five-month-long war in Iran. The administration’s guidance on campaign trail messaging has been “tone deaf,” House Republicans fear.
Meanwhile, the president’s approval rating has tumbled since he returned to the Oval Office last year, and even his biggest supporters have grown frustrated over his Middle East war.
And with a messy, jam-packed slate of primaries now all but in the rearview mirror, Democrats are determined to go on offense. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has 58 seats on its midterm target map that stretches into redder territory — while still facing an uphill climb to take the Senate.
Trump has a massive war chest at his disposal. His MAGA Inc. super PAC reached $400 million in June. The president told Punchbowl he plans to use it to “help Republicans,” but he stressed that he faces no pressure in this campaign cycle.
“I said to somebody, ‘Wait a minute, you don’t understand, I won,’” Trump said, referencing his 2024 presidential election victory. “I’m not campaigning.”
The biggest issue for Republicans this year? That Trump himself is not on the ballot, he said.
“If I don’t run, will those people go out and vote? And that’s the one thing I can’t tell, I’m going to ask them to,” he said.
The Senate’s plan to get out of town is coming together.
Majority Leader John Thune teed up a final vote on the Russia sanctions legislation for this morning, as well as a confirmation vote for dozens of nominees and a procedural step on a stopgap funding bill.
But there’s still a number of questions that need to be answered if Thune wants to adjourn for recess by the end of the day:
— BLANCHE’S FATE: President Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general needs to secure at least one more vote to be confirmed before the break.
It looks like it’s all up to Sen. Bill Cassidy after Sen. Lisa Murkowski announced Friday morning she is opposed. Thune indicated Thursday night Blanche’s fate was uncertain and that leaders were “still working to get the final vote.”
— SAVE AMERICA ACT: Thune said to expect a vote related to the SAVE America Act as well as an initial vote on a budget blueprint for a third party-line spending bill — which includes elements of Trump’s election security legislation.
The decision to hold the budget vote comes after two Republican senators, granted anonymity to speak candidly, told Blue Light News Thursday they believed Sen. Mike Lee or another member of the GOP’s right flank would have otherwise forced a vote on the framework.
But as we’ve previously reported, Republicans don’t believe the budget resolution has the votes within the conference to be adopted — meaning the expected initial vote today will fail to clear a simple majority threshold.
And it’s not clear Lee or like-minded senators will be satisfied and allow for lawmakers to adjourn for recess without more action on the elections measure. The senator has made similar threats over the past year but has never followed through.
— TIME AGREEMENT: GOP leaders need to strike an agreement to finish other business, including passing the stopgap government funding bill and advancing a college sports bill.
At this point, any single senator could still object to expediting the chamber’s agenda, which would derail Thune’s goal of getting members out of town by the end of the day.
“We’ve been having these conversations with Democrats trying to figure out what’s the path,” Thune said.
“We’ll see how it goes,” he added.
What else we’re watching:
— GOP EXPECTS CRYPTO BILL DELAY: The Senate will leave for the chamber’s August recess without holding a vote on a landmark cryptocurrency bill, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. Thune may still file cloture on the bill, but it likely won’t come to the floor until lawmakers return to Washington next month, two of the people said.
— COLLEGE SPORTS BILL STUMBLES: Sens. Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell’s legislation to impose new guardrails on college sports is looking increasingly unlikely to hit the floor this week. Eleven senators objected to expedited consideration of the Protect College Sports Act after Thune filed cloture earlier this week, two people familiar with discussions told Blue Light News.
— OGLES OUSTED: GOP House leaders lost an incumbent — and a perennial headache — with Rep. Andy Ogles’ primary defeat in Tennessee Thursday night. His loss to former Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher represents the second Trump-endorsed candidate to lose a primary this week.
Jordain Carney, Mia McCarthy, Andrew Howard and Jacob Wendler contributed to this report.
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