A trio of conservatives pushing for an extra $313 billion in federal Medicaid spending cuts marched into Senate Majority Chief John Thune’s (R-S.D.) workplace late Monday evening to hash out the subsequent steps for President Trump’s megabill after it appeared doubtless that an modification to sluggish the expansion of Medicaid was headed for defeat.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), the sponsor of the modification to roll again the growth of Medicaid beneath the Reasonably priced Care Act, was noticed strolling into Thune’s workplace alongside Thune, Senate Republican Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Senate Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah).
Scott, Johnson and Lee held off from supporting a movement to proceed to Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” on Saturday with a view to negotiate a dedication from Thune and Vice President Vance to assist an modification to sluggish the growth of Medicaid.
Scott has expressed sturdy confidence that his modification would move, however it turned evident Monday that it might not muster 50 votes after a number of GOP senators instructed The Hill that they might not assist it.
Sen. Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), the previous governor of West Virginia, stated he’s not snug reducing extra from Medicaid above the $930 billion in projected federal Medicaid spending cuts already included the 940-page Senate invoice.
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Justice warned that Republicans may lose their Senate and Home majorities in the event that they push Medicaid cuts a lot additional.
“It just seems like we’ve taken it as far as I’m comfortable taking it,” he stated of Medicaid spending cuts.
“And now we’re taking it to another level,” he stated of Scott’s proposal to bar new enrollees into Medicaid in states that expanded this system from getting the beneficiant 90-percent federal match.
“Here’s the thing I’m the most concerned about and that is I am hung up on keeping our majorities,” he stated.
“At the end of all this, there is a name or a family, you know. And if you don’t watch out, you’re going to alienate them, and when you alienate them, we’re going to go right back to the minority,” he warned.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) additionally instructed The Hill that he would vote in opposition to Scott’s modification.
Hawley stated he obtained a name from Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe (R), who pleaded with him to not assist reducing one other $313 billion from federal Medicaid spending, which might hit states equivalent to Missouri that expanded Medicaid.
The huddle got here greater than 13 hours right into a vote-a-rama, an infinite collection of modification votes. The vote collection moved glacially for a lot of the day as GOP leaders awaited key rulings from the Senate parliamentarian and labored to win over holdouts.
Thune walked out of his workplace about 40 minutes later, telling reporters: “This is a collaborative process, we’re collaborating.”
