Senate Republicans stall on Trump’s spending package due to proposed Medicaid cuts : NPR
The Senate Republicans struck a roadblock in their quest to adopt President Trump’s national agenda by July 4.
A Martínez, host:
The Senate Republicans struck what could be a major obstacle in their efforts to adopt a massive tax and expense package, a head of the Senate has determined that many changes offered in Medicaid cannot pass with a simple majority of republicans. This means that Republicans may have to withdraw hundreds of billions of dollars in planned savings.
Grisal Claudia Congress correspondent is here now. So let’s start with politics here. What will not steal exactly with the rules of the Senate?
Grisal Claudia, byline: delighted to be with you, A. Just. Medicaid was one of the most thorny questions of this bill for the Republicans. This federal program offers health coverage to low -income and disabled Americans in partnership with states. So, more than 70 million people are provided by Medicaid. But it is very expensive, and the Republicans wanted to reduce costs in two different ways, including a change that would force states to reduce the amount they can tax medicaid suppliers. But the parliamentarian – it is a member of non -partisan professional staff who advises senators on the rules of the chamber – said that these changes do not correspond to the strict guidelines that allow Republicans to try to adopt all this package according to party lines with this simple majority vote.
Martínez: And correct me if I am wrong – the Republicans are counting on modifications made to Medicaid to compensate for a lot of expenses in this bill. So how much could it be a blow?
Grisal: It is a fairly important blow with regard to cost savings and their chronology. We already know that the leader of the majority in the Senate, John Thune, cannot afford to lose three members of his conference so that it is adopted in the room, and much more are opposed when we add these Medicaid changes. The senators were therefore hung up all week in these negotiations, focused on this specifically provision, among others. And the senators of rural states have warned that these provisions could have devastating impacts for hospitals based on this funding.
Meanwhile, the Senate Republicans are undergoing serious pressure from President Trump to do so. He wants to sign the bill by the deadline for July 4. He even has a big event to put pressure for legislation this afternoon.
Martínez: Very well, so given all these pressures, what are their options?
Grisal: Well, they have a few choices. They could go back and rewrite this measure to adapt to the rules and return to the parliamentarian and plead their case to explain why the changes will work. They could decide to remove the changes, to retreat expenditure elsewhere in the bill, or they could potentially try to prevail over the parliamentarian. Some House Republicans are already agitating on social networks, but it would be unprecedented. Thune suggested that he didn’t want to go.
Martínez: So what could happen, then, if the Republicans put their deadline to bring this legislation to the president’s office?
Grisal: There is a lot at stake. This brings most of the president’s national agenda, and there is no longer much time in the legislative calendar when we consider all other bills they must take later this year. Add the debt ceiling to that – there is a provision to lift the debt ceiling by a so -called X date that could occur this summer. And if this is not addressed over time, it could trigger catastrophic results for the country’s financial situation.
Martínez: Wow, it’s Grisal Claudia of NPR. Thank you very much for the update.
Grisal: Thank you.
(Soundbite of Music)
Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit the pages of use of the conditions of use of our website on www.npr.org for more information.
The accuracy and availability of NPR transcriptions may vary. The transcription text can be revised to correct errors or match audio updates. Audio on npr.org can be published after its original broadcast or publication. The file authorizing the NPR programming is the audio recording.
