{"id":9140,"date":"2025-05-13T12:03:15","date_gmt":"2025-05-13T12:03:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/capitol-agenda-make-or-break-markup-day\/"},"modified":"2025-05-13T12:03:15","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T12:03:15","slug":"capitol-agenda-make-or-break-markup-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/capitol-agenda-make-or-break-markup-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Capitol agenda: Make-or-break markup day"},"content":{"rendered":"
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House Republicans are gearing up for their most consequential megabill markups Tuesday with massive, unresolved policy fights that could unravel President Donald Trump’s \u201cbig, beautiful bill.\u201d<\/p>\n

WAYS AND MEANS <\/b>\u2014 At least one blue-state Republican is threatening to torpedo the GOP\u2019s tax package over Chair Jason Smith\u2019s proposal to triple the cap on the state and local tax deduction to $30,000<\/a> and limit it to people who make $400,000 or less.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bill is dead effectively on the floor,\u201d Rep. Nick LaLota, one of a quartet of so-called SALT Republicans advocating for a higher cap, told POLITICO Monday night<\/a>. Smith \u201cinsulted us with fake numbers\u201d and \u201cdemonstrated bad faith in presenting a bill that \u2026 doesn\u2019t even come close to earning our vote,\u201d said LaLota, who is not on Ways and Means, but whose support will be necessary when the bill comes to the House floor.<\/p>\n

But the SALT plan isn\u2019t final. Ways and Means will use the placeholder language when it marks up its portion of the megabill at 2:30 p.m., with the expectation that negotiations will continue until the floor vote on the full legislation. Speaker Mike Johnson huddled with SALT Republicans and other top GOP lawmakers on Monday, and many Republicans involved in the talks believe they\u2019ll end up compromising on slightly higher numbers, according to people familiar with the discussions.<\/p>\n

ENERGY AND COMMERCE<\/b> \u2014 The panel is poised for an epic, Medicaid-focused markup starting Tuesday at 2 p.m. that could continue overnight and late into Wednesday. Committee Democrats say it could run longer than the marathon 27-hour markup during Republicans\u2019 unsuccessful attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act in 2017.<\/p>\n

Expect Democrats to offer a host of amendments to try and force Republicans into difficult votes over Medicaid. So far, it looks like Chair Brett Guthrie has gotten moderates on board with a plan that would force states to make some difficult decisions. One centrist panel member, Nick Langworthy, said he\u2019s been won over, calling Guthrie\u2019s gambit a \u201cbold\u201d proposal that protects Medicaid \u201cfor those who genuinely need it.\u201d The bigger test may come after the markup, however, when it hits the floor and goes up against conservatives angling for deeper spending cuts.<\/p>\n

Required reading ahead of E&C’s markup: How Guthrie, who has long wanted to overhaul Medicaid, is selling a compromise<\/a>.<\/p>\n

AGRICULTURE<\/b> \u2014 The most contentious plan for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is officially on tap Tuesday: Forcing states to pay for part of the program using a sliding scale based on their payment error rates,<\/a> beginning fiscal year 2028. Some Republicans fear this cost-share plan would disproportionately impact rural and red states including Alaska and South Carolina.<\/p>\n

Agriculture Committee lawmakers will begin their markup at 7:30 p.m. and break at midnight, then reconvene for amendment debate at 10 a.m. Wednesday.<\/p>\n

What Democrats are doing amid these megabill markups: Staying on message. The DNC is sending a mobile billboard around Blue Light News this morning criticizing Republicans for cutting Medicaid and SNAP, according to plans shared first with Blue Light News. And the Democratic Women\u2019s Caucus is urging Republicans across these three committees not to cut safety-net programs, according to a letter sent Tuesday<\/a> that Blue Light News obtained first.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have heard from women and families from across the country, and the message is clear \u2014 do not cut programs and services that deliver basic necessities like food and health care for women and families,\u201d the caucus wrote.<\/p>\n

Across the Capitol: Many GOP senators are bristling over some of the policies their House counterparts are pursuing. Sen. Ron Johnson said Monday he\u2019d oppose the current House megabill<\/a> for not going far enough to reduce the deficit, in a preview of problems to come for the party-line bill.<\/p>\n

What else we’re watching:<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u2014 It\u2019s not just Medicaid: <\/b>Lawmakers are also proposing a dramatic concession to the tech industry as part of the Energy and Commerce contribution to the GOP megabill. When the committee meets later Tuesday, members will consider a 10-year moratorium on state and local regulation of AI models<\/a>, amid growing tensions between federal lawmakers and state regulators. (Though it\u2019s not likely to survive the Senate\u2019s Byrd Rule.)<\/p>\n

\u2014 Library of Congress fallout:<\/b> Add Senate Majority Leader John Thune to the list of congressional leaders pushing back<\/a> against Trump\u2019s decision to fire top officials at the Library of Congress. Thune said on Monday that lawmakers \u201cwant to make sure we\u2019re following precedent and procedure\u201d in naming a replacement for ousted Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. He added: \u201cWe want to make sure congressional equities are respected and protected in this process.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Dem Oversight race: <\/b>Rep. Jasmine Crockett is planning to run for her party\u2019s top slot<\/a> on House Oversight after wavering last week when Rep. Kweisi Mfume, one of the most senior Democrats on the panel and a fellow Congressional Black Caucus member, started making moves toward a bid. In a text message sent to colleagues, Crockett said the current times \u201ccall for an extraordinary response\u201d which is why she is seeking the position.<\/p>\n

Anthony Adragna, Jordain Carney, Mohar Chatterjee, Hailey Fuchs, Benjamin Guggenheim, Meredith Lee Hill, Nicholas Wu and Grace Yarrow contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

House Republicans are gearing up for their most consequential megabill markups Tuesday with massive, unresolved policy fights that could unravel President Donald Trump’s \u201cbig, beautiful bill.\u201d WAYS AND MEANS \u2014 At least one blue-state Republican is threatening to torpedo the GOP\u2019s tax package over Chair Jason Smith\u2019s proposal to triple the cap on the state […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9140\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}