NEC Director Hassett: We're on track for the 'big beautiful bill' to pass the Senate
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Time Magazine
29 minutes ago
- Time Magazine
Trump's ‘Big Beautiful Bill' Threatens Planned Parenthood Funds
The funding Planned Parenthood receives for a variety of reproductive and preventive care services through Medicaid is under threat after the Supreme Court and Senate Parliamentarian both greenlit Republican efforts to strip the women's health organization of funds. The Senate version of President Donald Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill' narrowly passed on Tuesday with a provision included that would prohibit federal Medicaid funding for any health care services provided by Planned Parenthood for one year, after Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough allowed the cuts to remain in the legislation. The provision initially sought to 'defund' Planned Parenthood for 10 years, but the timing was reduced to one year prior to MacDonough's ruling. The sweeping tax and spending package now returns to the House. The bill's Senate passage comes just days after the Supreme Court ruled that states can prohibit Medicaid funding for any health care services provided by Planned Parenthood, in a case stemming from a 2018 order by South Carolina Republican Gov. Henry McMaster that barred any clinic offering abortion services from the state's Medicaid program. Read More: South Carolina Wants to End Medicaid for Planned Parenthood The decisions are major victories for Republican lawmakers in their decades-long effort to strip Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider, of government funding. The Hyde Amendment already bars federal dollars from being used for abortion. Medicaid—the state-federal program that provides health insurance coverage for more than 70 million people from low-income households—doesn't cover abortions, with very limited exceptions. But Medicaid covers other, non-abortion health care services that Planned Parenthood clinics provide, and many of the patients who visit the organization's locations are Medicaid recipients. Anti-abortion groups praised the Supreme Court's decision; Katie Daniel, director of legal affairs and policy counsel for the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said in a statement that the decision 'saves countless unborn babies from a violent death.' But Planned Parenthood, abortion-rights advocates, and health care providers condemned the court's ruling. Planned Parenthood has said that barring Medicaid coverage for the number of other health care services its clinics provide—such as birth control, STI testing and treatment, and cancer screenings—could lead to many patients not getting the health care they need. 'The Supreme Court once again sided with politicians who believe they know better than you, who want to block you from seeing your trusted health care provider and making your own health care decisions,' Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement. 'Patients need access to birth control, cancer screenings, STI testing and treatment, and more. And right now, lawmakers in Congress are trying to 'defund' Planned Parenthood as part of their long-term goal to shut down Planned Parenthood and ban abortion nationwide.' The provision targeting Planned Parenthood in Trump's tax and spending package would cost taxpayers an additional $52 million over 10 years, according to an estimate from the Congressional Budget Office. Planned Parenthood has said that if it is 'defunded,' nearly 200 health centers in 24 states would be at risk of closing and more than 1.1 million patients could lose access to their health care. Lawmakers and anti-abortion groups that have pushed to 'defund' Planned Parenthood have argued that patients can turn to federally qualified health centers instead of the women's health organization. But a recent report from the Guttmacher Institute, which researches and supports sexual and reproductive health and rights, concluded that federally qualified health centers wouldn't be able to readily replace Planned Parenthood's provider network. Abortion-rights advocates sounded the alarm on Tuesday, after the tax and spending package cleared the Senate with the provision targeting Planned Parenthood. 'If this bill passes, it will be the most devastating blow to women's health and bodily autonomy since the overturning of Roe,' Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement. 'What we are seeing is a full-scale attack against the complete range of care that these clinics provide—abortion care, yes, but also so much more.' 'If this bill passes, many people will have nowhere else affordable to go for these services,' Northup continued. 'The U.S. health care system is already stretched thin—the majority in Congress should not be further limiting where people can get health care. Patients should have the freedom to pick their health care provider.'
Fox News
29 minutes ago
- Fox News
House Republicans push for quick vote on Senate-approved bill despite internal resistance
The House Rules Committee – which is the gateway for legislation to hit the House floor, meets shortly. That committee will tee up the bill for floor debate tomorrow. The House will meet at 9 a.m. Wednesday. The House GOP brass wants to consider the "rule" – which is the pre-debate. Expect dilatory tactics by the Democrats such as motions to adjourn. The House must first vote and approve the rule before debating the actual Senate-approved version of the so-called "big, beautiful bill." That vote on the rule – which is a test vote – could be challenging for the GOP leadership, but if the House approves the rule by midmorning, it's on to debate on the actual bill. In a speedy scenario, the House could debate the actual bill by midday and approve the bill itself by early afternoon. But as you know, this is Capitol Hill. And nothing ever seems to go as quickly as leadership hopes. (e.g. – see Senate, U.S.) Fox is told that leaders will tell reluctant Republicans that the bill is not going to get any better. But it's also not going to get any worse. In addition, Republicans are banking on the idea that GOP members will want to break off their vacations and other activities to get into town as quickly as possible – and then leave. That will provide "peer pressure" – as one source described it. Die-hard proponents of the bill would then blame GOP skeptics for dithering and keeping the House in session longer than is needed – especially before the 4th of July.
29 minutes ago
Inside the final passage of Trump's 'big, beautiful bill'
Gathered on the Senate floor after a 26-hour, record-breaking vote-a-rama series, senators voted hastily on two final Republican-led amendments before getting to the main event: final passage of President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill." Vice President JD Vance was presiding over the chamber after breaking a tie on a previously considered wraparound amendment to the bill. It was assumed that he would soon break another tie on the bill's final passage, with a number of Republican holdouts remaining to make the vote math still uncertain. It was just a matter of who would be the third "no" vote Republicans could afford to lose and still pass the bill. Sens. Thom Tillis and Rand Paul had already committed to voting it down. Sen. Lisa Murkowski was widely thought to be the last opponent, with a temporary SNAP carveout for her state of Alaska hanging in the balance down until the last minute. When the final vote started, Murkowski was seated in the second row near the middle of the chamber. Next to her was Mississippi GOP Sen. Roger Wicker and next to him was another moderate Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who eventually proved to be the third and final GOP "no" vote. Collins, dressed in a hot-pink pantsuit, votes near the top of the alphabet. But she left near the beginning of the vote's final passage to go to the cloakroom. She missed her chance to vote when her name was called, coming out shortly after and walking directly to Murkowski. Collins put her arm around Murkowski, and then went up to the clerk and put her thumb down: no. She then left the chamber. Focus was then squarely on Murkowski, whose vote could have tanked the entire bill. But former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell came up to sit next to her. The two talked quietly and then shook hands. When her name was called, Murkowski quietly said "Aye." Senators had added additional sweeteners for her state, including a provision aimed at insulating Alaska from some of the bill's harshest impacts on SNAP. She then started to leave the chamber, shaking hands with GOP Sens. Jerry Moran of Kansas and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana before exiting. Senate Majority Leader John Thune didn't speak to either woman after their votes. He was seated in his chair in the front of the chamber. Collins later explained her vote in a statement: "My vote against this bill stems primarily from the harmful impact it will have on Medicaid, affecting low-income families and rural health care providers like our hospitals and nursing homes." She also said she had problems with cuts to energy tax credits and that the rural hospital relief fund that was created to try to get Republican holdouts to vote for the bill was insufficient.
