There IS a reason that Congress almost NEVER does a ‘Big Beautifl Bill’….
The sprawling bill to enact President Trump’s “big, beautiful” agenda is losing momentum in the Senate in the face of blistering attacks from Elon Musk and outspoken opposition from conservatives.
Senate Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) warned colleagues at a special conference meeting Wednesday afternoon that there are two likely “no” votes against the bill within the Senate GOP conference, which means just one more defection would derail the legislation, according to a senator who attended th
“Crapo just said, ‘I think [there] are two of us who are pretty definite no’s,’ which means we can’t lose anybody else,” the source said.
Crapo did not name names, but colleagues assumed he was talking about conservative Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.).
Paul says he will vote against the bill because it includes language to raise the debt ceiling by $4 trillion, extending the federal government’s borrowing authority past the 2026 midterm election.
Johnson, meanwhile, has called for Senate GOP colleagues to scrap the House-passed bill and move a smaller measure that would focus on extending the 2017 Trump tax cuts, securing the border and banking on the spending cuts identified by House committee chairs.
“What I am rock-solid on is that I can’t accept this as the new normal,” he said of projections that the annual federal deficit will reach $2.2 trillion in 2025 and grow to $2.7 trillion by 2035….
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Trump has set a July 4 deadline for Congress to get the bill to his desk. But some GOP lawmakers say that’s looking increasingly unlikely because of a battle between Republican senators over cuts to Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the repeal of renewable energy tax incentives.
“It won’t happen,” Johnson said.
“The sooner President Trump recognizes the reality of the situation, the sooner we can work on a smaller version of the bill, do the things that have to be done: Extend current tax law, increase the debt ceiling, provide border funding,” he said….
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The expectation that Paul and Johnson will vote against the bill could give more leverage to Republicans who want to make other changes, further delaying the effort. Those moderates include Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), who are warning against Medicaid spending cuts that would affect benefits….
With the focus on California?
Trump will try to push his Big Bill through