Congress
Capitol agenda: Trump’s tax cuts on trial
House Republicans are just 30 hours away from starting their most consequential committee votes yet on President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.” Here’s the latest on what we know as GOP leaders push to have the bill on the floor next week.
First, for your situational awareness: After committee votes this week, GOP leaders are aiming for the Budget Committee to vote on the plan Friday morning, followed by Rules Committee consideration next Monday. The real hard deadline for Hill Republicans is August, which is when Treasury expects the U.S. to hit its debt limit X-date and run out of cash to pay its bills. The administration wants Congress to act on that by mid-July.
MEDICAID CUTS TAKE SHAPE — Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie late Sunday unveiled the slice of the budget reconciliation bill that his committee is set to take up Tuesday. It appears to be an attempt at striking a compromise between GOP moderates and conservative hardliners who have been at odds over how much to cut Medicaid to help pay for the bill’s latest round of Trump tax cuts.
But it could still lead to millions losing Medicaid coverage and force states to make difficult decisions. Guthrie is declining to cap federal funding to states that have expanded Medicaid, a proposal that moderates were wary of. But the plan would limit taxes that states levy on hospitals and providers to help finance their Medicaid programs, which could lead states to cut benefits. State officials are poised to fight back.
TAX CUT QUESTIONS — Later Monday, Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith is expected to release the full details of his plan to extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and enact a further tax overhaul, after circulating an incomplete version Friday night. Ahead of a markup that begins Tuesday at 2 p.m., Smith is expected to brief Republican lawmakers on the details Monday at 1 p.m.
Right now, the bill appears to have a math problem. The draft that Ways and Means released Friday has an estimated $5 trillion cost, above the $4.5 trillion that Republicans permitted in their underlying budget framework. It’s raising questions about whether the full bill will include some tax hikes. The Friday draft was also silent on a number of Trump 2.0 tax proposals.
SALT was another glaring omission, and we’re expecting further movement on that Monday. SALT Republicans who’ve been clashing with leadership — and each other — over the parameters for lifting the cap on state and local deductions are meeting with Ways and Means Republicans and Speaker Mike Johnson at 10 a.m. to try to hash out a deal, according to two people familiar with the plans.
Fill in the blanks: We’re looking for details Monday on some of Trump’s biggest campaign-trail tax pledges, including eliminating taxes on tips and overtime, and expensive business provisions Republicans want to restore.
SNAP FIGHT — Republicans will turbocharge the fight over the nation’s largest anti-hunger program when House Agriculture releases its megabill proposal Monday. Ahead of a markup beginning Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., the text will put details behind a slew of proposals Republicans are pushing as they look to cut $230 billion in federal spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
The most contentious plan would force states to pay for a portion of benefits for the first time, alarming GOP centrists like Reps. Don Bacon and David Valadao and state GOP leaders. West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey and Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries Rick Pate are among those warning that the cost-sharing proposal would blow holes through state budgets and lead to massive reductions in services.
Pressure’s on: Families Over Billionaires, a liberal-leaning nonprofit, will hit Republicans over Medicaid cuts and tax changes that benefit the wealthy via mobile billboards circling the Capitol and House office buildings through Wednesday, the group shared first with us.
What else we’re watching:
— Trump’s new pharma plan: The president is set to sign an executive order Monday that could limit Medicare drug costs by tying them to the lower prices other nations pay. It comes after Hill Republicans balked at a similar proposal for Medicaid as an alternative to steep cuts to the program in their megabill. The pharmaceutical industry has slammed the proposals; the new executive order could cost companies billions of dollars.
— Trump’s fresh tests for Hill leaders: Look for top lawmakers to face questions over two weekend developments that pose potential conflicts between the White House and the legislative branch. An ABC News report that Qatar’s royal family was poised to make a super luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet available for Trump as Air Force One and for use after he leaves office is raising ethics questions on both sides of the aisle. Democrats are also hammering Trump for his firing spree at the Library of Congress, after he terminated Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter.
— ICE detention center fallout: DHS says arresting three Democratic lawmakers is “on the table” after Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, Rob Menendez and LaMonica McIver were involved in a chaotic scene Friday outside an immigration detention center in New Jersey. Watson Coleman claims she was “physically shoved” by an ICE agent. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is warning the Trump administration to “keep your hands off of members of Congress.”
Benjamin Guggenheim, Meredith Lee Hill, David Lim and Jordan Wolman contributed to this report.
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.
Todd Blanche’s attorney general nomination is on the brink after Sen. Lisa Murkowski announced Friday that she would oppose confirming him.
The Alaska Republican said in a statement that she did not believe Blanche, who has been serving as acting attorney general since April, would act to rein in President Donald Trump and reverse the “politicization—even weaponization” of the Justice Department that has “accelerated” under Trump.
“The country needs an Attorney General who will check the worst impulses of this administration,” she said. “I hope Mr. Blanche is able to achieve that, if confirmed, but I simply do not have confidence that will be the case.”
Blanche’s fate is now thought to come down to Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who has been increasingly critical of the president since losing his renomination campaign to a Trump-backed Republican earlier this year.
Cassidy met with Blanche alongside Murkowski Wednesday afternoon but hasn’t yet said how he will vote. Blanche has to win his support in order to be confirmed, given unified opposition from Democrats and opposition from Murkowski and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine).
The extended absence of Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky for health reasons has also left Republicans short of a vote.
Murkowski cited Blanche’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and the settlement agreement reached between Trump and the IRS under his watch as well as DOJ’s “repeated targeting” of Trump’s political enemies.
Senate Republicans rejecting Blanche would be a significant blow to Trump, who has pressured GOP senators to support Blanche over the past week as his nomination has been in limbo. And it would come as he’s already fuming at the conference, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, over their inability to end the legislative filibuster and pass the elections bill known as the SAVE America Act.
-
The Josh Fourrier Show2 years agoDOOMSDAY: Trump won, now what?
-
Politics1 year agoFormer ‘Squad’ members launching ‘Bowman and Bush’ YouTube show
-
The Dictatorship1 year agoLuigi Mangione acknowledges public support in first official statement since arrest
-
Uncategorized2 years ago
Bob Good to step down as Freedom Caucus chair this week
-
Politics1 year agoFormer Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron launches Senate bid
-
The Dictatorship1 year agoPete Hegseth’s tenure at the Pentagon goes from bad to worse
-
Politics1 year agoBlue Light News’s Editorial Director Ryan Hutchins speaks at Blue Light News’s 2025 Governors Summit
-
The Dictatorship11 months agoMike Johnson sums up the GOP’s arrogant position on military occupation with two words