Pay by the mile for driving? Lawmakers propose charge for Washington state residents
Pay by the mile for driving? Lawmakers propose charge for Washington state residents
Washington State lawmakers want to make motorists pay by the mile for driving according to a new bill proposed in the house.
House Bill 1921, introduced by Democrat state Transportation Committee Chair Jake Fey, is set to be addressed during a hearing Thursday in the state's House Transportation Committee.
The proposed bill would implement a system charging drivers based on how much they drive in order to fund road maintenance and preservation.
The bill is sponsored by Republican Alex Ramel, Democrat Sharon Wylie, Democrat Timm Ormsby, Democrat Lisa Parshley, Democrat Janice Zahn, and Democrat Nicole Macri.
Here's what to know about the proposed Washington State legislation:
More news: Amid Education Department turmoil, Trump's nominee to oversee schools faces lawmakers
Bill suggests paying 0.026 per mile driven
The bill, which proposes a road usage charge (RUC) for passenger vehicles weighing less than 10,000 pounds, shows profit from it would go towards road maintenance and preservation.
The charge − ($0.026 per mile driven) − would be based on self-reported odometer readings and, according to the proposed legislation, would be included as part of a driver's annual vehicle registration fee.
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.
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Newsweek
an hour ago
- Newsweek
Freed January 6 Prisoner Launches Bid for Congress
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. For Jake Lang, a 29-year-old Donald Trump supporter who spent four years in prison for his alleged involvement in the January 6, 2021, Capitol Hill riot, though he was never convicted of any offenses, January 20, 2025, was "like a Biblical miracle." Sitting in his prison cell, Lang heard Trump had pardoned around 1,500 people convicted over their involvement in the 2021 storming of Congress, with charges dropped against those, like him, still battling through the courts. Speaking to Newsweek, Lang said it was "like the Red Sea was parted," adding: "A guarantee that God had given me years ago that he would save me, that he would not forsake me, came true in that moment." When the pardon was issued, Lang was facing a number of serious charges, including "assaulting, resisting, or impeding" law enforcement and civil disorder, with prosecutors alleging he struck police officers with an aluminum baseball bat and kicked one who fell on the ground. Lang has consistently denied any wrongdoing and insists he acted in self-defense after violence was initiated by the police. Lang is currently running for Congress, hoping to take the Florida Senate seat vacated by Marco Rubio when he was appointed as Secretary of State by Trump and currently occupied by Republican Senator Ashlee Moody on an interim basis. A special election for the seat is scheduled for November 2026 and Lang is hoping to beat Moody in a primary contest to become the official Republican candidate. January 6, 2021 Lang, an e-commerce entrepreneur originally from New York State, was one of tens of thousands of Trump supporters who gathered in Washington, D.C., on January 6, 2021, to protest what the then-president claimed was the "rigged" 2020 presidential election. The day held great significance as Congress was expected to certify the election result, rebuking Trump's allegations of systematic fraud, though some Republicans refused to do so. Like Trump, Lang remains convinced the 2020 presidential election was rigged in favor of Joe Biden, though the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency insisted it had been "the most secure" election in American history. A plethora of legal challenges issued by Trump's team failed to get the election result overturned either nationally or in any single state. The January 6, 2021, demonstration turned violent, with hundreds of Trump supporters storming Congress in a bid to block the election result's certification, sparking chaos in which one demonstrator was shot dead by police whilst dozens of officers were injured. Jake Lang is running for Marco Rubio's old Florida Senate seat following his release from prison. Jake Lang is running for Marco Rubio's old Florida Senate seat following his release from prison. Blessed News According to prosecutors, Lang, wearing a gas mask and wielding a baseball bat, struck officers whilst shouting taunts such as "This is our house, we paid for this f****** building." When interviewed by Newsweek, Lang didn't deny handling a baseball bat and wearing a mask but insisted he didn't take them to the demonstration, adding: "I presume whoever brought that was probably worried about an Antifa gang jumping them." He also said he only acted in self-defense. The Congressional hopeful blamed law enforcement for the violence, commenting: "During the course of the police brutality, it escalated to such a crazy nature, people were literally dying, and in order to stop the loss of human life, me and a group of men literally had to put ourselves between the unarmed protesters and this thuggish police group that killed people." This version of events is contradicted by a 40-minute documentary released by the New York Times and largely based on raw footage, which showed demonstrators approaching a police perimeter outside Congress and attempting to overpower them at what it said was the start of the violence. Lang told Newsweek that at times, police were "shooting things over the crowd," which were "landing in the middle of thousands of people," causing them to surge forward towards the police, though video shared on social media appears to show the police being engaged before any tear gas or pepper spray was deployed. According to Lang, during the ruckus, he attempted to rescue Rosanne Boyland, a Trump supporter who died outside Congress, from "the bottom of the dogpile as she was crushed to death" with his arms. Federal Prison Following the January 6 riot, Lang was arrested and spent four years in federal prison as his legal team successfully battled to push his trial back, in part because of a Supreme Court case he was involved in against the prosecutor's use of Obstructing an Official Proceeding charges which carried a maximum sentence of 20 years. Lang said he was moved between different facilities repeatedly after he continued political campaigning in prison, which, together with coronavirus lockdowns, resulted in him spending hundreds of days in solitary confinement. He said: "They don't want the interviews happening so they'll throw you in solitary and then what we do the second I get in the solitary is we have a call to action go out on like Gateway of people call and inundate the jail and they realize I'm too much of a headache, let's just ship him down the road, tell the U.S. Marshals to come pick me up and they're bring me to Virginia or Pennsylvania or New York, God knows where else, all the way out to Oklahoma one time." According to Lang, Trump was popular in federal prison, in part because he signed the 2018 First Step Act, which introduced additional programs and training for prison officers in a bid to reduce recidivism, but also "because Trump has a swagger that they really like." By contrast, he said: "I only met one Joe Biden supporter the entire time I was in prison." Trump supporters clashing with police and security forces as people try to storm the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. Trump supporters clashing with police and security forces as people try to storm the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. Brent Stirton/GETTY During Lang's stint in prison, he remained active with both religion and politics, spending time as an unofficial pastor "doing Bible studies" and "baptizing people." He said there was "a big black market in prison" with "the prison smuggling in whatever, and so if I could get my hand on a phone, that's a great weapon on information warfare to use." Lang claimed that in one prison, somebody even told him, "They could get me a cat." Newsweek contacted the Department of Justice for comment on Thursday via online inquiry form. January 6 Love Story During his time in prison, Lang first came across his now fiancé Rachel, another January 6 defendant who was convicted before being released on probation. He said: "It's a J6 love story, the greatest love story every written in the January 6 world. So Rachel was a Jan 6er and I was on a Twitter space I was doing from my prison cell and she was listening. This is one of the times, very rare, where I had a cell Brooklyn Federal Prison, Brooklyn, New York. "We met basically through one of my media interviews...I reached out and we started talking, she started becoming one of the people I trusted and like a right hand of mine while I'm in an amazing woman and I couldn't help but love her and ask her to marry." Run for Congress Following Trump's pardon, Lang quickly re-engaged with politics, announcing his Florida Senate bid in March 2025 after Rubio joined Trump's cabinet. Lang painted Senator Moody, Rubio's replacement, as an establishment figure, commenting: "Ashley's an interesting character because she feigns a lot of Trump's policy positions, but at the end of the day, she is a DeSantis loyalist, and on top of that, she has this extremely established background. She's like the polar opposite of an outsider candidate, just like Donald Trump vs Ron DeSantis." Whilst not a Florida native, Lang said he has deep ties to the state, as "both my grandparents growing up lived in Florida, my mom lives in Florida, and I've lived in Florida myself for different spans." Lang added: "Beyond my roots here Florida is ready, Florida is the most MAGA state in the country, the area around Mar-a-Lago in the West Palm beach where I live is like the conservative Hollywood." If elected, Lang is pledging to help advance Trump's "Make America Great Again" (MAGA) agenda. He said: "For me, my calling for running for United States Senate was more I'm going to continue to bear the touch with Donald Trump to mark America's golden age... "The old RINO Republican Party, that Trump obliterated when he came old guard, the uniparty, RINOs, establishment hacks whatever you want to call them, they're no longer in control, and with candidates like myself and other Jan Sixers running were seeing this crazy shift where it's not just Trump, it's more MAGA, its more patriots, that are going to be leading the next generation." While Trump hasn't commented on Lang's campaign, the former January 6 arrestee said he was in touch with the president's team, commenting: "We have a lot of great connections into Team that have been his former attorneys, advisors, now people who are working inside his department of more just giving them information then they do with it what they want." Compensation Asked if he thinks those imprisoned over the January 6 riot should receive compensation, Lang replied: "Of course, 100 percent. I mean, first of all, you have people that lost their entire livelihoods, and there are real monetary damages that happened. People's careers, homes, cars, marriages – all of them dissolved... "I believe that the Jan 6ers are going to come out of this not even just financially stronger but also in a position to start to make real change. People are going to see us as the vindicated patriots that stood up for the stolen election."
Politico
an hour ago
- Politico
Crucial megabill changes could come today
Presented by IN TODAY'S EDITION:— Senate Finance to tweak Medicaid, tax plans— What's in Senate Homeland, Judiciary's megabill texts— Possible changes ahead for rescissions Senate Finance Republicans could release their all-important megabill text as soon as today, outlining changes to Medicaid cuts and President Donald Trump's tax incentives. Senate Majority Leader John Thune met with the president at the White House on Thursday and told our Jordain Carney afterwards to expect Trump's campaign promises, like tax relief for tips and overtime work, to be intact in the bill text. 'The president wants his priorities,' Thune said in our brief Thursday evening interview. His comments come after Senate Republicans had been contemplating rolling some of Trump's tax policies back to make room for larger business tax cuts. But there are strategic reasons for Senate Finance Chair Mike Crapo to postpone release of his committee's text until next week. Generally, lawmakers don't like tax legislation to sit out in the daylight for lobbyists to pick apart. The bill text could also drive key policy disagreements. Sen. Josh Hawley said if the text doesn't ease up enough on the proposed Medicaid cuts, he would be willing to force a vote on the Senate floor that could include a rollback of limits on taxes that fund state obligations for the program. 'I'd be happy to amend the bill on the floor. Quote me on that,' Hawley told reporters on Thursday. 'I don't think that's probably what leadership wants.' There could also be major heartburn for blue-state House Republicans if the bill text waters down their $40,000 state-and-local-tax deduction cap. In a notable moment during Thursday's House vote on the rescissions package, one of the hardcore SALTers, Rep. Nick LaLota, suddenly switched his vote from 'no' to 'yes' after a huddle with House Speaker Mike Johnson on the floor. He declined to confirm whether SALT had to do with his flip, but said: 'I expect constituents will be quite pleased when they get $40,000 worth of SALT.' Other must-reads on megabill dynamics this morning: — Where GOP leaders are smoothing things over: Republican senators and the White House now view Senate hard-liners Ron Johnson, Mike Lee and Rick Scott as on track to support the megabill they've railed against for not slashing enough spending, Jordain reports this morning (Pros got it last night). Johnson softened his tone after convincing Trump in a one-on-one phone call to let him work with administration officials on his deficit-reduction plan. The Wisconsin Republican subsequently met with Vice President JD Vance and National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett. — Where GOP tensions are rising: Homeland Security Chair Rand Paul and Budget Chair Lindsey Graham released dueling proposals for Homeland's portion of the megabill late Thursday, after GOP leaders deemed the conservative numbers Paul put forward as unworkable. — What else the GOP is tweaking: Senate Judiciary's take on the megabill, also released late Thursday, includes new immigration fees and a carrot for Hawley (reauthorization of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act). But it leaves out House-passed language to limit the ability of federal courts to enforce contempt orders and a deregulatory provision known as the REINS Act. Republicans could still try to get a version of REINS past the parliamentarian. TGIF. Happy Friday the 13th! Email your Inside Congress scribes at bguggenheim@ lkashinsky@ mmccarthy@ and crazor@ Follow our live coverage at the Inside Congress blog at THE SKED The House is out. The Senate is out. Next week: The House is out of session next week. The Senate will continue working through Trump's nominations, including Gary Andres to be assistant secretary at HHS, and will take a final vote Tuesday on a landmark stablecoin regulatory framework. THE LEADERSHIP SUITE GOP leaders show support for Israel after strike on Iran Republicans were quick to post messages of support after Israel launched what it described as a 'preemptive' military strike aimed at Iran's nuclear facilities. Johnson posted an Israeli flag on X Thursday night, stating 'Israel IS right — and has a right — to defend itself!' Thune posted a warning to Iran and a commitment from the Senate to help Israel. 'The United States Senate stands ready to work with President Trump and with our allies in Israel to restore peace in the region and, first and foremost, to defend the American people from Iranian aggression, especially our troops and civilians serving overseas,' Thune said in a post on X. 'Iran should heavily consider the consequences before considering any action against Americans in the region.' See also from Rachael Bade late last night: MAGA warned Trump on Iran. Now he's in an impossible position. Padilla incident divides top Republicans Johnson suggested the Senate should censure Sen. Alex Padilla after the California Democrat interrupted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's Los Angeles press conference Friday and was forcibly removed and handcuffed by officers. Johnson told reporters Padilla's 'behavior … rises to the level of a censure' and that 'there needs to be a message sent by the body as a whole that this is not what we're going to do.' Padilla is unlikely to face Senate reprimand — the last time a member was censured was in 1990, for fiscal improprieties. Even if he was formally rebuked, unlike in the House, Padilla wouldn't be stripped of rights and privileges. Thune didn't go as far. He said Thursday evening that he had spoken to Padilla and reached out to Noem but hadn't connected yet. 'We want to get the full scope of what happened, and do what we would do on any incident like this involving a senator, which is to try to gather all the relevant information,' Thune said. Meanwhile, top Democrats have rushed to Padilla's defense. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who spoke to Padilla Thursday afternoon and said he's 'standing strong,' said the incident 'reeks of totalitarianism' and demanded 'answers now.' House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said 'every single person who was involved in manhandling Senator Padilla should be held accountable to the full extent of the law.' Dozens of House Democrats marched to Hill GOP leaders' offices Thursday afternoon in protest (though Thune and Johnson weren't there). Several are demanding Noem testify before Congress; some even called for her to resign. Thune gears up for another spending fight The Senate majority leader is already signaling that the $9.4 billion rescissions package narrowly passed by the House Thursday 'could be' changed in the Senate. 'We'll see,' he told reporters Thursday. But even senators pushing for changes acknowledge that doing so would be highly complicated. That includes Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, who reiterated to Lisa Thursday that she's concerned with several aspects of the White House's request to rescind funding for public broadcasting and foreign assistance. Sen. Lisa Murkowski told Calen Wednesday evening that she's worried about potentially defunding local Alaska affiliates of NPR and PBS. Thune said he expects to take up the rescissions package in July. Congress has until midnight on July 18 to act on the legislation, otherwise the proposal will expire and the White House is required to spend the money as lawmakers intended. Schumer's 'DEFCON 1' approach to saving clean-energy credits Schumer is tapping a wide network of allies to help him sway Republicans away from wholesale repeals of green credits from the Biden-era climate law he helped pass. The New York Democrat told our POLITICO E&E News colleague Kelsey Brugger he's strategized with clean-energy executives and enlisted a group of people to call 16 senators who have shown 'some discomfort' with the repeals. That includes advocates; tech executives; governors with major renewables investments; Duke Energy and Southern Co. executives; Sean McGarvey, president of North America's Building Trades Unions and even 'friendly' Trump administration officials. Senate Republicans left town saying they're considering various pathways to back away from the House's harsh rollbacks by extending phaseout timelines and easing other restrictions. Sen. John Curtis, a leading defender of the credits, told our Josh Siegel Thursday that 'we're getting to a good place' and he's 'encouraged' by the state of conversations. Sen. Thom Tillis, another advocate, told Lisa Thursday that Republicans are still putting baseline text together. POLICY RUNDOWN CRUZ'S FED RESERVE PLAN HITS A SNAG — A group of Republicans is questioning a proposal from Sen. Ted Cruz that would bar the Federal Reserve from paying interest to banks, potentially dooming its chances of making it into the GOP megabill, our Jasper Goodman and Victoria Guida report. Cruz, the Senate Commerce chair, and other Republicans argue that stopping the Fed from paying interest to financial institutions that keep reserves at the central bank could deliver large savings over the next decade if passed in the party-line bill. But Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott, whose panel has jurisdiction over the Fed, rejected the idea of including it in the 'big, beautiful bill,' saying in a statement on Thursday that it 'is not a decision to be rushed.' 'Any legislative change to the Federal Reserve's framework must follow regular order,' he said, as opposed to through the reconciliation process. TICK TOCK ON TIKTOK — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testified on Thursday that the uncertain fate of TikTok in the U.S. is not a part of the ongoing trade talks with China, our Anthony Adragna reports. Bessent's comments to the Senate Finance Committee came a day after Trump touted a 'deal' with China following trade talks in London. Congress passed a bill last year requiring the ban on TikTok in the U.S. if it was not sold from Beijing-owned ByteDance. But Trump has pushed back enforcement of the ban with two 75-day extensions. The next deadline is June 19, but Trump has floated yet another extension. GOP GRILLS 'SANCTUARY' STATE GOVS — GOP lawmakers on Thursday hammered blue-state Govs. Kathy Hochul, Tim Walz and JB Pritzker over their states' so-called sanctuary policies as Republicans look to cast Democrats as soft on immigration enforcement in upcoming elections. The House Oversight hearing served as a platform for politically ambitious Republicans to test their attacks, our Shia Kapos, Emily Ngo and Elena Schneider report. Rep. Elise Stefanik, who's weighing a bid for Hochul's job after Trump yanked her nomination for U.N. ambassador, grilled the governor over undocumented immigrants accused of violent crimes in New York. 'These are horrific crimes, and they're heartbreaking,' Hochul sought to interject. But Stefanik cut her off: 'They're horrific crimes that are committed on your watch.' The Democratic governors walked a careful line, attempting to balance immigrants' rights while insisting that undocumented people with criminal records should be deported and casting immigration enforcement as a federal issue. But the hearing also highlighted tensions within the Democratic Party over immigration policy and messaging, as protests over the Trump administration's ICE raids spread from Los Angeles to other cities. Best of POLITICO Pro and E&E: CAMPAIGN STOP NEW CAMPAIGN ETHICS WORKING GROUP — The House Ethics Committee is launching a subpanel to review its guidance on campaign activities, our Hailey Fuchs reports. The new working group on the bipartisan committee was announced Thursday and will be led by GOP Rep. Nathaniel Moran and Democratic Rep. Sylvia Garcia, both of Texas. The two members will 'review and make recommendations to improve, clarify, and modernize the Committee's guidance regarding campaign activity by House Members, officers, and employees,' according to the committee. THE BEST OF THE REST Officers sue to compel Congress to install a Jan. 6 riot memorial at Capitol, from Michael Kunzelman at The Associated Press Democratic Lawmakers Are Taking Out Liability Insurance As Trump Ramps Up Legal Threats, from Oriana González and Riley Rogerson at NOTUS House passes bill that would void DC 'sanctuary' policies, from Jim Saksa at Roll Call CAPITOL HILL INFLUENCE FIRST IN INSIDE CONGRESS: NEW CODEL — A bipartisan group of House lawmakers is scheduled to leave for the first-ever privately sponsored congressional trip focused on the Abraham Accords today, Nicholas Wu writes in. Reps. Brad Schneider, Jimmy Panetta, Zach Nunn and Don Bacon are traveling to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Israel for a trip hosted by the Atlantic Council's N7 Initiative. They'll head into a volatile political environment after Israel launched a strike against Iran last night, though we're told the trip is still on. JOB BOARD Austin Gage is now a senior associate at Innovative Federal Strategies. He previously was legislative director and counsel for Rep. Hal Rogers. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Rep. Jerry Nadler … Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton … POLITICO's Eli Stokols … Carnegie Mellon's Margaret Harding McGill … Patrick Cuff … Kirtan Mehta … Mara Liasson … Andrew Lavigne … Society for Vascular Surgery's Dylan Lopez … Michelle Korsmo … National Journal's Casey Wooten … John Del Cecato of AKPD Message and Media … Victoria Maloch … Jo Eckert … Jessica Ek of American Cleaning Institute … Sarah Lovenheim … Landy Wade of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's office … Trent Allen … Patrick McGill … Will King of the House Natural Resources Committee TRIVIA THURSDAY'S ANSWER: Gregory Clark correctly answered that Ron Paul was the fiscal hawk who hit a home run out of the park in the 1979 Congressional Baseball Game. TODAY'S QUESTION, from our Katherine Tully-McManus: Name the former House lawmaker whose insider trading indictment included video footage of the White House Congressional Picnic.
Politico
an hour ago
- Politico
The Senate GOP's hard-liners are suddenly sounding softer on the megabill
The Senate's conservative hard-liners vowed to wage holy war against the 'big, beautiful bill.' Now they appear to be coming to Jesus. The recent rhetorical downshift from some of the loudest GOP critics of the pending megabill underscores the political reality for conservatives: As much as they want to rail publicly about the legislation and the need to address any number of pressing national emergencies in it, very few are willing to buck President Donald Trump on his biggest priority. None of them are ready to cave just yet. But the White House and their GOP colleagues increasingly believe that three senators in particular — Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Mike Lee of Utah and Rick Scott of Florida — are now on track to support the bill. Johnson, in particular, has softened his once-fierce criticism of the legislation in recent days. 'We all want to see President Trump succeed,' he said in a brief interview this week. 'Everybody is trying to help. That's why, if I seem to have been striking a more hopeful tone, it's because I am more hopeful.' Just a couple of weeks ago, Johnson was demanding near-unworkable levels of spending cuts and warning that the bill would drive the nation off a fiscal cliff. Then the Trump administration and members of Republican leadership went to work. Johnson made a pitch to Trump during a recent one-on-one phone call to let him work with administration officials on his deficit reduction plan. That led to a meeting with Vice President JD Vance and Kevin Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council. A person with knowledge of the meeting, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said afterward that the White House is 'optimistic that there's a path to getting Johnson to yes.' Trump also privately urged Johnson during a meeting with other Finance Committee Republicans last week to speak more positively about the bill. The callout came after Trump officials — and Trump himself — grew annoyed watching Johnson savage the bill on television. His message: You should be out there selling this bill proudly, he told Johnson, according to two White House officials granted anonymity to describe the meeting — arguing that even if he doesn't love every detail, there was plenty in the bill for Republicans to be proud of. 'When the president says, 'Ron, you've been so negative, that's just not even helpful,' I want to be helpful,' Johnson said, acknowledging Trump's message in the meeting and admitting he has 'downplayed what is good in the bill.' One of the White House officials summarized the approach to Johnson: 'Don't be negative to create leverage for yourself,' the person said. 'If you want to negotiate, like, we can negotiate in private. We're all reasonable people.' The hands-on efforts to win over Johnson are part of a larger effort to try to help the fiscal hawks find a soft landing — and at least the semblance of some concessions that will be able to hold up as wins in the end. That's played out in face-to-face meetings with administration officials, negotiations over pet provisions and discussions about how to continue the fight to cut budget deficits down the road. Being able to win over their deficit hawks would be a huge boon to Majority Leader John Thune, who has acknowledged that he's got one hard 'no' vote in Sen. Rand Paul, who firmly opposes the bill's debt-ceiling hike. Thune can only afford to lose three GOP senators, with Vance breaking a tie. That has given the fiscal hawks leverage, since the GOP leaders can't afford to lose all of them, and that's on top of the other potential headaches they have to navigate elsewhere in the conference. To hear the fiscal hawks tell it, they are sounding a more positive note about their ability to support the bill because the administration is starting to take their demands seriously. To help appease their holdouts, GOP leaders have tried to scrounge up additional savings beyond what is included in the House bill. 'I believe we'll get a deal done. I'm doing everything I can to represent my state,' Scott said in a brief interview. GOP leaders are working to assuage Lee by tucking one of his top priorities into the bill. The deregulatory proposal, known as the REINS Act, was initially expected to run afoul of Senate rules for the party-line reconciliation process, but leaders have been working to try to find a version that could pass muster. House conservatives, meanwhile, have grown increasingly worried that the Senate, with the blessing of their fiscal-hawk allies, will send back a bill that waters down some of their hard-fought victories. The House Freedom Caucus has laid out public demands, while its members have met privately with Lee, Scott and Johnson to strategize about additional spending reductions and maintaining their policy wins. The Senate hard-liners aren't ready to concede just yet. Senate Budget Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has promised Johnson he will advance a second reconciliation bill, giving conservatives another chance to enact cuts. But Johnson said that wouldn't be enough to get him on board. Instead he wants a 'forcing mechanism' to maintain a longer-term push to return to 2019 spending levels. He's letting the White House brainstorm other ideas and described himself as 'reasonably flexible.' Lee said in a statement he's 'been working with my colleagues and the White House to make the Big Bill Beautiful.' But added: 'It's not where it needs to be yet.' 'We need to sell federal land to help fix the housing crisis, terminate benefits that flow to illegals, end the Green New Scam, and get rid of the Medicaid provider tax. I want to see this effort cross the finish line, but we need to do more,' he added. Even as they continue to push, their colleagues see the signs of late softening — and aren't surprised whatsoever. 'They'll fold,' said a GOP colleague who was granted anonymity to speak candidly. Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) said that Republicans have 'made progress' with Johnson and 'I wouldn't count him out.' And two others, Sens. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and John Kennedy (R-La.), said they expect Lee, Scott and Johnson to come around when the bill comes up for a final vote, even if they don't ultimately love every provision. 'They're very gettable,' Kennedy said. 'At some point people are just going to have to decide, is this good enough?' Rachael Bade and Meredith Lee Hill contributed reporting.
