Congress
Republicans tweak megabill’s SNAP, Medicaid provisions
The GOP megabill is undergoing some significant changes in the House as conservative hard-liners, moderates and blue-state Republicans all angle to shape the bill to their liking ahead of a potential floor vote this week.
Conservatives are still pushing for controversial changes to the federal share of Medicaid payments, which could lead to major benefit cuts, but House Republican leadership, moderates and the White House are all still resisting that effort, according to two Republicans granted anonymity to describe the private talks. Medicaid work requirements, though, are expected to be phased in two years, addressing the hard-liners’ push to speed up the previously planned 2029 implementation.
The draft bill, however, includes multiple waivers of those provisions that states can pursue, and those waivers are not expected to substantially change, the Republicans said.
Hard-liners also secured a rough agreement from the speaker over the weekend to speed up the phase-out of clean energy tax credits enacted under former President Joe Biden, though the parameters of how quickly that happens are still a major fight inside the GOP conference. One of the biggest battles is over whether so-called shovel-ready projects will be hit, as hard-liners are pushing for.
Some Republicans bristled at the weekend changes the speaker green-lit. Reps. Andrew Garbarino of New York and Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa, who have been defending many of the tax credits, were both at Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration as GOP leaders agreed to some of hard-liners’ demands to scale them back.
Lawmakers are still negotiating over the cap on the state-and-local-tax deduction, or SALT — a major issue for a group of blue-state Republicans. House Speaker Mike Johnson will meet Monday night with moderates concerned about changes to Medicaid, SALT and federal pensions.
On a call with GOP lawmakers Monday morning, Johnson characterized the latest changes as minor and “technical,” according to two people granted anonymity to describe the private call.
Republican leaders have also changed language in the draft bill before the House Rules Committee that would have barred legal immigrants from receiving SNAP food aid, with significant carve-outs for Cuban nationals that some Florida members had requested. Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) and other centrist Republicans pushed leadership to allow more legal immigrants to receive SNAP. Senate Republicans also made clear the ban in the draft bill would not pass muster in their chamber.
That copy of the bill before the Rules panel — which is set to meet at 1 a.m. Wednesday to take it up — also makes other changes to controversial new cost-sharing requirements for some Medicaid beneficiaries. Those would require some beneficiaries in states that have expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act to pay up to $35 per service.
The initial bill did not have explicit carve-outs for certain types of care despite a committee summary saying that the legislation would have exemptions for primary, prenatal, pediatric and emergency room care. The new version exemption applies to primary care, mental health and addiction treatment.
A GOP Energy and Commerce Committee spokesperson said the changes to the language around the exemptions were to clarify what the bill does.
The new version also omits a Government Accountability Office study on how pharmacy benefit managers, pharmacies, and drugmakers get paid in the prescription drug supply chain. It also removes clawbacks of unobligated funds for a slew of Energy Department programs, including more than $400 million for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and $8 million for the inspector general.
The chair of the House Agriculture Committee said he’s not willing to “accept bad results” as a tradeoff for the benefits of advancements in artificial intelligence — a direct rebuttal to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
“As someone who practiced health care for 28 years, I’m never willing to accept bad results. I think we just need to do our best,” Rep. G.T. Thompson, a Pennsylvania Republican, told reporters Monday.
He was responding to Altman’s comments to Decoded by Blue Light News that people “should accept some bad things happening for the benefits of this technology and people having the agency.”
Pressed further on whether he agreed with Altman’s premise, Thompson replied, “No, I think we have to work harder to prevent any bad things from happening.”
Altman’s comments come in the wake of increased panic over the risks of catastrophic destruction from AI, with many industry leaders and experts arguing that guardrails are needed on the technology to prevent it from spinning out of human control.
Pressure is building on Congress to regulate the rapidly-advancing technology, but lawmakers are divided over whether the AI industry needs federal regulation or if it’s capable of governing itself.
The executives of major AI labs and tech companies gathered at the White House last week to discuss solutions with President Donald Trump, who believes overregulating AI will have national security repercussions. The group ended up signing a “morally binding” AI accord that critics say won’t do enough to prevent a worst-case scenario.
Thompson noted Monday he believes that AI will bring “tremendous solutions,” specifically in regards to finding cures for health issues like cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. But he also said AI has to be led with “principle” — comparing it to how he addressed digital assets in a bill to regulate the cryptocurrency industry, which he worked on as chair of the Agriculture Committee.
“The first principle is ‘do no harm.’ So we need to protect consumers, and that means, I think, building some guardrails — some guidelines — to do that,” Thompson said. He added that the second principle is to “foster innovation.”
“I think AI has a lot to do with that,” he added. “I don’t think AI works without RI: Real Intelligence.”
LE SUEUR, Minnesota — Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Monday there is no “consensus” yet on advancing a bill establishing permanent daylight saving time even as President Donald Trump ramps up pressure on Republicans to pass it.
Thune addressed the matter in a Monday interview after Trump used his Truth Social account multiple times over the weekend to rail against the legislation, known as the Sunshine Protection Act — going so far as to post the personal cell phone number of one of its GOP opponents, Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas.
“The president feels strongly on it like he does a lot of issues,” he said. “It’s something we’re having conversations about but there’s no clear path forward or consensus on it yet.”
While Trump singled out Cotton for scrutiny, Thune made clear the opposition to the permanent daylight saving time proposal — which would lead to very late winter sunrises in some parts of the country — ran deeper than one senator.
Cotton has publicly voiced opposition to the proposal for year, citing, among other things, the fact that children in his state would be going to school in the dark for part of the year.
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) voiced similar objections Monday to reporters in the Capitol, saying he was mindful of “safety concerns in the more northern and rural states where children get on the school bus in very early hours.”
Thune, who spoke during a campaign swing in Minnesota with GOP Senate nominee Michele Tafoya, has himself opposed previous daylight saving bills. He said Monday that “a lot of it depends on where you are in the country” and that “your geography probably has as much to do with your position on that as anything.”
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who has aligned himself closely with Trump, is among the lawmakers who have been pushing to get the bill through the Senate. He recently told POLITICO, “I’m going to make sure it gets passed this year.”
Riley Rogerson contributed to this report.
Democrats have pulled back some of their ads in North Carolina’s Senate race, days after the top Senate Republican super PAC paused its future spending in the state.
WinSenate, a group affiliated with the Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer-aligned Senate Majority PAC, has removed roughly $1.1 million in North Carolina ad buys this week, according to ad tracking firm AdImpact. The group still has roughly $18.8 million in future reservations through Election Day.
“Senate Majority PAC is committed to seeing this race through to victory, and will continue to make spending decisions based on how to best build a strong Senate majority,” Senate Majority PAC spokesperson Lauren French said in a statement.
The move, combined with the GOP-aligned Senate Leadership Fund’s decision to pause future spending, are a signal that both parties are shifting resources amid an ever-expanding Senate map. Democrats are increasingly confident in their North Carolina Senate nominee, Roy Cooper, as he continues to hold a sizable lead in public polling over Republican Michael Whatley — but some privately say states like Michigan and New Hampshire need more resources.
Meanwhile, multiple Republican groups, not just SLF, have retreated from the state in recent weeks, effectively deciding that it’s no longer worth the money to boost Whatley’s campaign.
The Koch-aligned Americans for Prosperity Action left North Carolina off its $22 million list of future spending across key Senate contests, and Old North Action removed $6.5 million in ad reservations last month.
The Cooper campaign, however, is still treating the race as competitive, pointing to North Carolina’s closely divided electorate and the fact that President Donald Trump won the state in each of the past three presidential elections.
“North Carolina is a truly 50/50 state and Democrats haven’t won a US Senate race in 18 years. We can’t take anything for granted or our eye off the ball,” said Morgan Jackson, a senior adviser to the Cooper campaign. “DC is broken and we’re going to continue to run this race like we’re ten points down to ensure North Carolinians get the change they desperately need.”
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