The “Big, Beautiful Bill” passed the U.S. House on May 22 and now sits in the Senate, where the GOP holds a 53-47 margin. However, numerous concerns are being aired among Republican members. Among these, deficit hawks like Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) and Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) have said they are currently opposed to the House-passed version because the bill does not cut spending enough to curtail the staggering federal debt. Indeed, the Congressional Budget Office has concluded that the House-passed bill will add $2.4 trillion to the debt.
Meanwhile, several other GOP Senators are urging significant changes to win their support:
- Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) wants to see the cuts to Medicaid at least partially restored.
- Sens. John Curtis (R-Utah), John Hoeven (R-North Dakota), and Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) are concerned that the House version, which speeds up the phase out of IRA clean energy credits, will scuttle significant private sector investments across the country.
- Sens. Steve Daines (R-Montana) and James Lankford (R–Oklahoma) want to make some tax cuts that are temporary in the House bill permanent to provide certainty for businesses.
- Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Jerry Moran (R-Kansas), and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) have also raised concerns about the potential impact of Medicaid spending cuts on constituents and rural hospitals.
Nevertheless, Senate Majority Leader John Thune has expressed confidence that the bill will be sent to President Donald Trump’s desk by July 4. But any changes made in the Senate will need to be reconciled with the House version, where the GOP margin for passage is even slimmer, as it passed the House 215-214, than that in the Senate. Given the significant wrangling it took to pass the first House bill, what happens once the bill is returned to the lower chamber is anyone’s guess.