Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is scheduled to satisfy with Senate Republicans at lunch Friday in an try and maintain President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” on monitor amid robust pushback from GOP lawmakers over cuts to Medicaid and an costly proposal to lift the $10,000 cap on state and native tax (SALT) deductions.
Bessent will clarify to GOP senators a tentative deal the White Home reached with Home Republicans from New York, New Jersey and California who wish to increase the SALT cap.
“There’s a tentative deal struck between the House and the White House that has to be sold to the Senate,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) mentioned Friday.
“We don’t have a deal yet but I think Scott’s going to help and I think we’re going to try to explain the dynamics the best we can,” he mentioned
Bessent will sit down with Republican senators who’re scrambling to remodel the Senate’s model of an enormous invoice to implement Trump’s agenda.
Senate Majority Chief John Thune (R-S.D.) hopes to schedule a vote as quickly as Saturday to proceed to the finances reconciliation bundle.
However whether or not GOP leaders can stick with that schedule will depend on a wide range of components, together with how the Senate parliamentarian guidelines on key parts of the measure.
Mullin instructed reporters that he thinks the Senate will vote to proceed to the “big, beautiful bill” late Saturday.
“Maybe late tomorrow. I think we have to get on the clock at some point tomorrow,” he mentioned.
However Mullin predicted that GOP senators could possibly be hashing out the small print of the huge bundle as they grind their approach by way of a collection of votes often known as a vote-a-rama.
“I think we negotiate all the way until we get through vote-a-rama,” he mentioned.
A Senate Republican aide mentioned the primary vote on the invoice may occur on Saturday however timing will depend on ending discussions with the parliamentarian and drafting the ultimate textual content.
Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough has rejected an array of provisions within the invoice, together with greater than $250 billion in proposed spending cuts.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) mentioned he doesn’t know when the negotiators will end drafting the Senate invoice.
“I can’t predict,” he mentioned.
Crapo mentioned his workers remains to be transforming a provision to cap states use of well being care supplier taxes.
The parliamentarian mentioned the proposed cap on well being care supplier taxes did not cross the Byrd Rule, dealing Republicans a serious setback.
The well being care supplier cap is projected to chop a whole bunch of billions of {dollars} in federal Medicaid spending.
