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Senate GOP leaders face spending squeeze on Trump's big bill: From the Politics Desk
Senate GOP leaders face spending squeeze on Trump's big bill: From the Politics Desk

NBC News

time3 days ago

  • Business
  • NBC News

Senate GOP leaders face spending squeeze on Trump's big bill: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team's latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail. Happy Monday and welcome to our first edition of June! The Senate is back this week and will begin the process of taking up the 'big, beautiful bill' the House passed. Sahil Kapur breaks down the challenges facing GOP leaders as they try to send the legislation to President Donald Trump's desk by July 4. Plus, Scott Bland digs into the archives for a quote from the 2016 campaign trail from a Republican that provides a guide for Democrats today. — Adam Wollner Senate GOP leaders face spending squeeze on Trump's big bill By Sahil Kapur The House-passed legislation for President Donald Trump's domestic agenda is moving to the Senate, where Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is facing a squeeze from opposing party factions about how to modify it. Spending and the debt: Some Republicans say they want steeper spending cuts to offset the debt increase as a result of the tax breaks and funding bumps for immigration enforcement and the military. That includes Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., both of whom have said they cannot support the bill in its current form as it adds an estimated $2.3 trillion to the debt. 'It's wrong. It's immoral. It has to stop,' Johnson said Sunday on Fox News. 'My loyalty is to the American people, to my kids and grandkids. We cannot continue to mortgage their future.' Medicaid: On the other hand, Thune must navigate worries and political considerations from senators about the existing spending cuts in the legislation — particularly on Medicaid, SNAP and clean energy funding. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, voted for the Senate's initial budget blueprint to begin work on the bill, but later objected to a revised version, citing concerns that it could impact her constituents who rely on Medicaid coverage. Collins is up for re-election in 2026, along with Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Joni Ernst, R-Iowa. All are likely to face attacks from Democrats about the stricter burdens for Americans to stay on the health care program. And at least one solid Trump ally from a red state is warning against rolling back Medicaid. 'I've got some concerns,' Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., told reporters recently. 'I continue to maintain my position; we should not be cutting Medicaid benefits.' Hawley notably told NBC News last month he's fine with 'coverage losses' resulting from the work requirements and anti-fraud measures. So he may ultimately get in line with the bill, as Trump and Republican leaders are portraying the Medicaid provisions as program integrity measures, instead of cuts to rescind coverage. Regardless, Hawley's vocal support for preserving Medicaid benefits creates a potential land mine for Republicans to maneuver around, making it harder to cut deeper than the House bill if they want more savings to appease spending hawks. Clean energy: As part of the spending caution, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, says there is a faction of GOP senators who opposes the 'termination' of the clean energy tax credits passed by Democrats in 2022, which Republican leaders have put on the chopping block to finance their bill. Getting technical: And there's a procedural hurdle Thune must navigate: The so-called 'Byrd bath.' Senate rules limit bills under the 'reconciliation' process — which Republicans are using here to bypass Democrats in the Senate — to budgetary measures that are primarily about dollars and cents, not policy changes. Democrats are preparing to challenge a host of provisions in the package. In the end, the three-vote margin for defection may give Thune the breathing room he needs to pass the bill. But any changes the Senate makes need to go back to the House for another vote in the paper-thin majority. And Thune is on deadline, as the Treasury Department has said Congress needs to pass a debt ceiling increase — which is part of the broader package — no later than July in order to prevent a catastrophic default. Up until now, the GOP's deadlines have all been fuzzy. But this one is real. A key lesson Democrats can learn from 2016 candidate Marco Rubio Analysis by Scott Bland Democrats are in regroup mode after losing the 2024 election, acutely aware of the party's low standing with the American public and thinking through everything from their policy platform to where and how they talk to voters — like the $20 million pitch reported by The New York Times for a research project titled 'Speaking with American Men: A Strategic Plan.' More power to them, if someone wants to fund it. And Democrats desperately want to do something to move forward right now. They might want to consider some long-ago advice from one Marco Rubio about what really matters for a political party's viability — and why it could take an excruciatingly long time to get there. When Rubio — currently President Donald Trump's secretary of state — was running for president in August 2015, he gave a prescient response to questions about then-candidate Donald Trump's rhetoric about immigration. Asked by CNBC whether the way Trump and others were talking about immigrants would hurt the Republican Party in the 2016 general election, Rubio said, 'This is not the Republican Party. These are individual candidates who are responsible for their own rhetoric and what they say,' adding, 'The face of the Republican Party is going to be our nominee.' Rubio hit a similar theme days later, speaking to Bloomberg News in New Hampshire: 'Ultimately the Republican Party will reach out to all voters based on who our nominee is. And I don't believe Donald Trump will be our nominee.' Don't be distracted by the admittedly big thing that Rubio got wrong. The broader point is that American political parties are shaped and defined by their candidates. The biggest and best thing that the Democratic Party can do to change voter perceptions of itself is to nominate a national candidate that voters see more favorably. The party can't just erase former President Joe Biden's struggles and former Vice President Kamala Harris' loss to Trump — especially among the slice of Democrats fed up with their own party right now, a big contributor to those record-low poll numbers. That's just stuck to the Democratic brand right now. Of course, Democrats aren't going to nominate another presidential candidate for three years or so. Perhaps that's why some are itching to get that contest started sooner rather than later. Even formally nominating the party's next slate of congressional or Senate contenders is a year or so away. It's no wonder that research and investment efforts are getting a lot of attention — on the long road to fixing a party brand, that's what's available right now.

Speaker Mike Johnson's bluff-calling strategy reaches its limit: From the Politics Desk
Speaker Mike Johnson's bluff-calling strategy reaches its limit: From the Politics Desk

NBC News

time16-05-2025

  • Politics
  • NBC News

Speaker Mike Johnson's bluff-calling strategy reaches its limit: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team's latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail. In today's edition, Sahil Kapur explains how a failed committee vote revealed the limitations of Speaker Mike Johnson's tactics for dealing with the hard-right rebels in his conference. Plus, we have a sneak peek of Kristen Welker's 'Meet the Press' interview with former Vice President Mike Pence. And Gary Grumbach answer's this week's reader question on President Donald Trump's efforts to defund public media. — Adam Wollner Speaker Johnson's bluff-calling strategy reaches its limit By Sahil Kapur House Speaker Mike Johnson's run of (relative) smooth sailing came to an abrupt end Friday when he faced his first tangible setback on a massive party-line bill for President Donald Trump's agenda — a failed vote in the House Budget Committee. Until now, Johnson had been successful at steering the plan through the narrowly divided House. There was the original budget framework that the House adopted in February, followed by the Senate-approved blueprint that the lower chamber passed in April, despite strong reservations from the hard-liners in Johnson's conference. That allowed the House to actually begin drafting the specifics of the legislation. And this week, Johnson and his leadership team managed to get 11 House committees to approve their portions of the broader package. The legislation was then sent to the Budget Committee, on the assumption that some revisions would be still needed to send it to the full chamber next week ahead of Johnson's Memorial Day Weekend deadline. Throughout the process, Johnson often called bluff on the persistent gripes of a group of far-right spending hawks, forcing them to take votes and assuming they would not be willing to stand in the way of Trump's agenda. It's a strategy that proved successful time and again. But on Friday, four conservatives on the Budget Committee had enough, following through on their pledge to block the measure from reaching the House floor. They slammed the bill for using budget gimmicks to trigger its benefits right away and postpone its painful cuts for years. And they noted that the multitrillion-dollar package would blow up the national debt. Now comes the moment of truth. And the limits of the slim House Republican majority, where the party has just three votes to spare, are about to test Johnson's prowess like never before. The hard-liners are demanding that the spending cuts to Medicaid, clean energy funding and other programs take effect sooner. That means imposing political pain on vulnerable GOP lawmakers ahead of the next presidential election — perhaps even before the 2026 midterms — and putting swing districts at risk. But if Johnson fails to meet their demands, are the hard-liners willing to sink the bill entirely? Or was their vote Friday more of a symbolic protest to gain negotiating leverage? Surely, they'll be hearing from Trump if they persist. (Before Friday's committee vote, Trump called out GOP 'GRANDSTANDERS' on Truth Social.) The speaker is also feeling the squeeze from another corner of the conference. At least four New York Republicans are threatening to bring down the entire bill on the House floor unless party leaders expand the state and local tax (SALT) deduction that the current legislation sets at $30,000. That demand has caused consternation among other Republicans, who largely represent districts where SALT isn't heavily used. And even if Johnson steers the package through the chamber, Senate Republicans have already put the House on notice that the legislation won't pass the upper chamber without major changes. Up next: The House Budget Committee is set to reconvene Sunday at 10 p.m. ET to vote again on the bill. Pence says it's a 'bad idea' for Trump to accept a Qatari jet for use as Air Force One By Bridget Bowman Former Vice President Mike Pence said Friday that President Donald Trump should not accept a luxury jet from Qatar to use as the next Air Force One, telling NBC News' 'Meet the Press' moderator Kristen Welker that the move would raise security and constitutional concerns. 'First we've got to remember who Qatar is. We've got a military base there. I have members of our immediate family that have deployed to the region,' said Pence. 'But Qatar has a long history of playing both sides,' Pence said in the exclusive interview at his home in Indiana. 'They support Hamas. They supported Al Qaeda. Qatar has actually financed pro-Hamas protests on American campuses across the United States.' Pence added that accepting the plane as the next Air Force One 'is inconsistent with our security, with our intelligence needs. And my hope is the president reconsiders it.' Pence added that there are 'very real constitutional issues,' noting the part of the Constitution that bars public officials from accepting gifts from a foreign government. 'I think it's just a bad idea, and my hope is the president will think better of it,' Pence said. ✉️ Thanks to everyone who emailed us! This week's question comes from Polly Moore: 'How can Trump defund programs established by Congress, such as public TV and National Public Radio?' To answer that, we turned to legal affairs reporter Gary Grumbach. Here's his response: President Donald Trump has been attempting to defund programs established by Congress, but he's hitting roadblocks almost every time. Because here's the thing — there are legal ways to defund programs established by Congress. It happens every year when the budget process gets underway, with input from both sides of the aisle in both chambers of Congress. But Congress, by law, has to be involved in that process. It's when they're not, and when a program is stripped down beyond its congressionally mandated levels, that we start seeing legal action being taken. And that legal action has been fast and furious. Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting have all sued over the Trump administration's attempts to defund or dismantle their organizations that were created and funded by congressional appropriations. But it hasn't been an easy road. As it stands today, an appeals court has temporarily blocked a lower court's order that would have restarted funding and brought back employees of Voice of America and Radio Free Europe, while appeals are underway.

Trump's drug pricing move shows his second-term reluctance to try bipartisanship: From the Politics Desk
Trump's drug pricing move shows his second-term reluctance to try bipartisanship: From the Politics Desk

NBC News

time12-05-2025

  • Business
  • NBC News

Trump's drug pricing move shows his second-term reluctance to try bipartisanship: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team's latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail. In today's edition, Sahil Kapur dives into how President Donald Trump has been reluctant to even attempt to reach across the aisle to Democratic lawmakers on policy proposals that could attract bipartisan support. Plus, we look at how markets soared after the U.S. and China agreed to ease their trade war — even as some uncertainty remains. — Adam Wollner By Sahil Kapur President Donald Trump's executive order on Monday to cut prescription drug costs by imposing a 'most favored nation' pricing model drew a pithy retort from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Washington's most outspoken proponent of taking on Big Pharma. '[A]s Trump well knows, his executive order will be thrown out by the courts,' said Sanders, the ranking member of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. 'If Trump is serious about making real change rather than just issuing a press release, he will support legislation I will soon be introducing to make sure we pay no more for prescription drugs than people in other major countries. If Republicans and Democrats come together on this legislation, we can get it passed in a few weeks.' Trump's order is a directive to the Health and Human Services secretary to act on the goal — achieving parity with other developed countries on what Medicare and Medicaid pay for drugs — within 30 days. But the bigger problem is that a version of the idea was attempted by Trump in his first term, and blocked in court. The new order may run into the same brick wall before it can deliver any benefits. The back-and-forth points to a unique tendency for Trump in his second term: a reluctance to attempt bipartisanship, even when there is significant overlap with Democrats on a goal. Instead, Trump has repeatedly sought to go it alone — at risk of failure. The self-styled 'dealmaker' is passing up opportunities for a deal, lest he have to share the victory with his political foes. It is a break from tradition. Presidents typically attempt to achieve congressional approval for their goals, knowing that legislation is the best way for a policy to overcome legal hurdles and — especially if it's bipartisan — to stand the test of time. Trump is taking a different route, relying on executive action and party-line bills to advance his agenda. The move on drug pricing is just the latest example. In recent weeks, Trump has hinted at support for raising taxes on upper earners, a goal that has virtually unanimous Democratic support and could turn into a bipartisan victory. Instead, he has repeatedly offered it up as a trial balloon for his party-line agenda bill, only for Republicans to shoot it down each time (and to question whether he's even serious about it). Another example is Trump's campaign promise of government-funded IVF treatments, a goal that Democrats are more supportive of than Republicans. Indeed, GOP lawmakers say they have no intention of advancing IVF funding in their bill. Yet there has been scant effort by Trump at a bipartisan deal that could deliver on the promise. The tendency helps explain why Trump signed fewer bills into law than any president since the 1950s during his first 100 days in office. Trump's GOP trifecta includes a paper-thin House majority and a 60-vote hurdle in the Senate to pass most legislation, making his task of signing new laws even more complicated without any Democratic support. House Republicans still have a lot of work ahead of them to reach consensus on their massive bill for Trump's agenda, even as they start releasing key parts of legislative text for the package. Here's the latest from Capitol Hill: House Republicans unveil sweeping tax plan but have yet to resolve key fight over SALT, by Scott Wong, Melanie Zanona and Sahil Kapur , by Sahil Kapur U.S. and China take major step toward easing trade war By Jennifer Jett, Peter Guo and Rob Wile The United States and China announced a 90-day pause on most of their recent tariffs on each other, fueling hopes on Wall Street of a cooldown in the trade war between the world's two largest economies. The combined U.S. tariffs rate on Chinese imports will be cut to 30% from 145%, while China's levies on U.S. imports will be cut to 10% from 125%, the two countries said in a joint statement. The early morning announcement came after officials from the two countries met in Geneva over the weekend. It was the first face-to-face talks on the tariffs since President Donald Trump's shock 'Liberation Day' announcement last month imposing 84% duties on Chinese imports, which subsequently climbed to 125% — and then to 145% a day later. The math: The new 30% rate is the sum of the 20% duty imposed during the first weeks of his second term in response to alleged Chinese inaction on fentanyl flows, alongside the 10% across-the-board tariff Trump has imposed on all countries. How the markets responded: The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up more than 1,100 points, an increase of about 2.8%. With those gains, the Dow is now even for the year after having declined as much as 11%. Still, it remains 5.5% below the highs it reached in February. The S&P 500, the broadest stock index, added 3.3%. Note of caution: Some analysts have urged caution, noting that tariffs remain far higher than before Trump returned to office. That suggests many consumer goods — from cars and groceries to fireworks — are set to see price hikes. Federal data is set to provide a fresh inflation snapshot on Tuesday morning. 'The full set of U.S. tariffs would still be considerably higher and broader than expected by markets at the start of the year,' Goldman Sachs analysts wrote in a note to clients Monday, noting that the 90-day countdown 'should keep uncertainty high for both investors and businesses.' 🗳️ Midterm roundup There may still be 540 days until the 2026 elections (who's counting?), but we've seen a flurry of candidates jump in — and others opt out — of key races around the country over the past 72 hours. Here's the latest from the campaign trail: Georgia Senate: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., passed on a run against Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, while state Insurance Commissioner John King became the second major Republican to enter the race. Michigan Senate: Former state House Speaker Joe Tate joined the state's crowded Democratic primary for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Gary Peters. Iowa governor: Rob Sand, Iowa's state auditor and its only statewide Democratic officeholder, announced a bid for governor. And on the GOP side, Rep. Randy Feenstra filed paperwork for his campaign. Florida governor: State Sen. Jason Pizzo, fresh off a high-profile break with the Democratic Party, is running for governor as an independent. Michigan's 13th District: Meanwhile, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., backed state Rep. Donovan McKinney's primary challenge to her colleague, Rep. Shri Thanedar.

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