Latest news with #GOP-only
E&E News
4 days ago
- Business
- E&E News
Bipartisanship alive on energy, environment bills
While President Donald Trump and Republican leaders plow ahead with their GOP-only megabill, taking aim at what they call the 'Green New Scam,' rank-and-file lawmakers are reaching across the aisle and making deals on lower-profile energy and environment legislation. This Congress, the House has passed dozens of bipartisan bills focused on reforming disaster relief; preventing wildfires; bolstering energy-related research; transferring public lands; streamlining permitting processes; and generally improving agencies' work on energy development, water management and natural resources. The bills are not exactly cable news fodder or social media bait amid the day-to-day fights that dominate Capitol Hill discourse. But lawmakers pushing these bills say their unsung proposals can cut through the partisan noise and accomplish significant — if at times obscure — reforms that could make a difference for environmental management, innovation and climate resilience. Advertisement 'It's just common sense,' said Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), who has introduced forestry, wildfire management and energy efficiency bills with Democratic co-sponsors this Congress, including California Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla. 'I mean, in a hyperpartisan era, these are the issues that we can look at.'
Axios
25-05-2025
- Business
- Axios
Sen. Johnson predicts he has enough Senate allies to hold up the "big, beautiful bill"
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), a fiscal hawk who has openly criticized House Republicans' reconciliation bill, predicted Sunday that there are enough in his flock to stop the process "until the president gets serious about spending reduction and reducing the deficit." The big picture: Pushing President Trump 's " big, beautiful bill" through the House was far from a painless process, but the fiscal package now heads to the Senate, where the chamber is likely to make changes. Johnson, who has not held back in his criticism of the bill championed by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), characterized the GOP-only legislation as "the Titanic" at a Politico event earlier this month. Ron Johnson wants deeper cuts, and has repeatedly called for a return to pre-pandemic spending levels. Driving the news: " This is the weekend we honor the service and sacrifice of the finest among us," Ron Johnson said on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday, referencing the Memorial Day holiday. He added: "I don't think they served in sacrifice to leave our children completely mortgaged." He called for his fellow lawmakers to be "responsible," contending the "first goal of our budget reconciliation process should be to reduce the deficit." As he noted, the legislation — which aims to extend Trump's first-term tax cuts, among other priorities — would do the opposite. The Congressional Budget Office estimates an increase in the deficit of $3.8 trillion for the 2026–2034 period. The other side: House Speaker Johnson, also appearing on CNN Sunday to defend the bill, said such estimates are "dramatically overstated," arguing that the CBO does not do "dynamic scoring" and does not account for the growth he says will be fostered by the bill. Asked about Ron Johnson's contention that the bill "will almost certainly add to our deficits and debt," the Louisiana Republican pointed to the wide range of opinion in his caucus and said, "we're doing the best we can with the vote numbers that we have." Two House Republicans joined Democrats in voting "no" Thursday, while one voted present. Yes, but: Ron Johnson said he agrees with independent deficit projections that show an increase of up to $4 trillion. "You don't defeat the deep state by funding it," he said and added that the process for passing the bill — in order to hit Mike Johnson's Memorial Day goal — has been "rushed." Mike Johnson told CNN's Jake Tapper the House was trying to get the work done on "a very aggressive timetable." What we're watching: Asked how many of his fellow GOP senators he thinks share his concerns and would be willing to make major changes to the bill, Ron Johnson said "we have enough to stop the process." Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) echoed his Senate colleague's criticism, saying on "Fox News Sunday" that the spending cuts included in the House bill "are wimpy and anemic." He continued that he "still would support the bill even with wimpy and anemic cuts if they weren't going to explode the debt." Other senators, like Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), have expressed concerns about proposed in the bill.
Axios
22-05-2025
- Business
- Axios
House passes Trump's "big, beautiful bill" after tense GOP talks
The House voted Thursday to pass President Trump's " big, beautiful bill" after weeks of Republican infighting that repeatedly threatened to tank the GOP-only legislation. Why it matters: It's a major step toward getting the hulking fiscal package signed into law, though the Senate is likely to make substantial changes that could be difficult for House GOP hardliners to swallow. The vote was 215-214. Two Republicans — Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Warren Davidson of Ohio — joined Democrats in voting "no," while Andy Harris of Maryland voted present. The big picture: The bill would extend the 2017 Trump tax cuts and aims to cut $1.5 trillion in federal spending, including through Medicaid work requirements and the repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act tax credits. It took considerable wrangling by House Republican leadership to get to this point, with members of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus threatening to oppose it as recently as Wednesday. State of play: The vote came after a marathon congressional session in which some lawmakers stayed up for days. The House Rules Committee met early Wednesday morning to markup the bill only ending late Wednesday night. House Democrats gummed up the works with several procedural votes, pushing the vote time back to around 6:30 am ET on Thursday.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Rosen and Cruz deliver a Senate surprise: Unanimous passage of a Trump priority
Any single senator could have blocked Democrat Jacky Rosen from pushing through legislation on Tuesday that would end taxes on some tipped wages. But sometimes the Senate surprises everyone. Instead, the entire chamber signed off on Rosen's attempt, and the Senate unanimously passed the legislation led by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, that the Nevada Democrat has also long supported. Republicans currently have similar language in their party-line tax and border bill, but Rosen said she can't support that GOP-only proposal so wanted to register her support for tax-free tips — which President Donald Trump is also backing — any way she could. 'Reconciliation is going to cut Medicaid, it's going to cut SNAP. It's going to do a lot of horrible things for Nevada families. But one thing Nevada families need is tax relief. 25% of our workforce is in hospitality, a heavily tipped industry. I don't have to tell you,' Rosen told Semafor shortly after her surprising win. Cruz could have objected to Senate passage of the standalone tips legislation, since it might chip away at pressure to pass the larger tax package. But instead the Texan celebrated passage of his legislation, which Trump started pitching on the campaign trail last year in Nevada. 'What we just saw is the Senate passing No Tax on Tips 100-0,' Cruz said on the Senate floor. 'And now we are sending it to the House of Representatives.' Asked why she thought the bill managed to sail through, Rosen noted that her side followed the typical procedure for soliciting objections to unanimous passage, 'and nobody objected. So you're going to have to ask, well, 98 other people, because Ted and I were on the floor.' The proposal could stall across the Capitol as Republicans try instead to pass the party-line megabill that includes the similar language.
Axios
07-03-2025
- Business
- Axios
Hakeem Jeffries rejects Mike Johnson's shutdown plan
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and his leadership deputies said Friday they will not lend their support to the stopgap spending bill being proposed by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.). Why it matters: Democrats are holding out for language that will restrict President Trump and DOGE from being able to slash government programs already authorized and funded by Congress. House Democrats from across the party's ideological spectrum have argued the onus of averting a government shutdown falls squarely on Republicans, who control Congress and the White House. Johnson will likely need Democratic votes to pass any government funding measure. Even if he manages to pass a GOP-only bill, Democrats can block it in the Senate. What they're saying: With a week until the March 14 government shutdown deadline, Jeffries, House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) and Democratic caucus chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) wrote that the continuing resolution Republicans are expected to put forth is "not acceptable." "Republicans have decided to introduce a partisan continuing resolution that threatens to cut funding for healthcare, nutritional assistance and veterans benefits through the end of the current fiscal year," they said. The Democratic leaders said they would "enthusiastically support a bill that protects Social Security, Medicare, veterans health and Medicaid," but that "Medicaid is our redline." Between the lines: Democrats have been fighting for language that constricts DOGE's ability to get around the funding guidelines passed by Congress. Republicans so far have declined to accede to that as they largely cheer on DOGE's cuts, and as such funding talks have stalled. That leaves the federal government hurtling towards a shutdown. The other side: "House Democrats admitted they wanted a government shutdown, and now they're following through," said National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Mike Marinella. "They're deliberately making our country less safe and less prosperous just to score political points. House Democrats will always put politics over people."
