Senate latest on tax and spending bill : NPR
The Republican leaders of the Senate still negotiate the details of their massive tax and expenses bill and head for a final vote on Monday.
Scott Detrow, host:
The Senate Republicans work 24 hours a day this weekend to adopt the massive tax and expenses that includes most of President Trump’s agenda. GOP leaders are still trying to lock the votes to adopt the package and to reach the president’s goal of signing a bill by July 4. The correspondent for the NPR Congress, Deirdre Walsh, has now joined us from the Capitol. Hello, Deirdre.
Deirdre walsh, byline: hey, scott.
Detow: So, last night, the Republicans had problems at the start of a debate on the bill. What is the last?
Walsh: Okay, this first procedural vote lasted more than 3 hours last night while the leaders huddled with some of these selected. But at the moment, the Senate is debating the bill. Late tonight, they will start another long process of consideration of an unlimited number of amendments. But even some of the Republicans who voted last night to move forward with the bill, such as the Republican of Maine Susan Collins, do not say how they will vote on the final version. Remember that Republican leaders cannot afford to lose three votes. The two Republicans who voted last night were the Kentucky senator, Rand Paul, who opposed to add 5 billions of dollars to the limit of debt, and the Senator of North Carolina Thom Tillis, who warns the Medicaid cuts in this bill will transfer billions of costs to his country of origin.
Detrow: The biggest lever effect that President Trump must put pressure on people to vote in favor with him is, of course, to challenge them in the primaries. And to this end, Tillis has made a surprise announcement today. Tell us about this.
Walsh: He did. After insisting for months that he could win what should be a really competitive re -election race, Tillis announced today that he was not running for re -election. And as you have noted, I mean, it comes the day after the day after him on social networks to oppose the bill and spoke of supporting a main challenge. Tillis has published a nice scathing statement. He said that leaders quote, “who are ready to adopt bipartite, compromise and demonstrate an independent thought becomes an endangered species”.
Detow: Interesting. The president therefore continues to call him a major bill. This is his official name. What is the best way to think of what size is really the size?
Walsh: Well, the Budget Office of the Non -Somited Congress has today published a report which indicates that the Senate bill adds 3.3 billions of dollars to the deficit in the next 10 years. The bill makes the tax reductions that were promulgated in 2017, to the first permanent Trump mandate, also adds new tax reductions like no tax on advice, without tax on overtime. But to pay these tax discounts, the invoice provides a lot of changes to the Medicaid program, the health care program for low -income, disabled and elderly. It changes the way the statements finance their own Medicaid programs. He adds work requirements for certain recipients of the program. And CBO analysis shows that nearly 12 million people may lose their health care coverage in this proposal.
Detrow: So, as far as we know at this moment, when the final vote could be at some point – at any time the next day, what do we know about the questions that republican leaders are still going out?
Walsh: It’s always Medicaid. I mean, this question expressed its republicans here throughout this debate. Conservative Holduts said that the leaders accepted an amendment last night that would add important cuts for the Medicaid expansion program which was part of the affordable care law. But there is a group of republicans, like the senator from Alaska Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, which I mentioned, who oppose other modifications to Medicaid or the restructuring of the program. And how this problem is solved will probably determine if it goes.
Detrow: And very quickly, already, says that it passes, what are the chances that it pass the house identically?
Walsh: It will be an damaged route. The president of the Mike Johnson room has a really thin majority, and some conservatives of the Chamber are already complaining about changes in this bill.
Detow: it’s DEIRDRE WALSH from NPR. Thank you so much.
Walsh: Thank you, Scott.
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