Senate Majority Chief John Thune (R-S.D.) advised Senate Republicans to count on to see the legislative textual content of the funds reconciliation package deal on Friday night after which to vote at midday Saturday to start debate on President Trump’s tax and spending invoice.
Thune gave GOP senators the up to date schedule after they met with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to debate a tentative deal between the White Home and Home Republicans from New York, New Jersey and California to boost the cap on state and native tax (SALT) deductions from $10,000 to $40,000 for a interval of 5 years.
However Thune acknowledged after the assembly that the schedule may slip, calling the Saturday vote “aspirational.”
“All of it depends on we got a few things we’re waiting on, outcomes from the parliamentarian. If we can get some of those questions, issues landed then my expectation is at some point, yeah, tomorrow we’ll be ready to go,” Thune advised reporters.
“I said, again, aspirationally, that we’d try to do it at some point in the middle of the day,” he mentioned of the plan to vote Saturday to proceed to the invoice.
Senate Republicans management a 53-seat majority and might afford three GOP defections on the invoice and nonetheless go it with a tiebreaking vote from Vice President Vance.
A number of GOP senators, nevertheless, refused to say whether or not they would vote to proceed to the invoice, together with Sens. Invoice Cassidy (La.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Ron Johnson (Wis.).
“I don’t know what we’re voting on,” Cassidy advised reporters when requested whether or not he would vote for the movement to proceed to the invoice.
Murkowski mentioned, “We have not seen text. I don’t have anything more to say other than that.”
A whole bunch of billions of {dollars} in cuts to Medicare spending are a serious downside for a number of Republican senators, together with Murkowski and Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Josh Hawley (Mo.) and Jerry Moran (Kan.).
Johnson appeared offended over the choice to forge forward with a vote, regardless of his pleas to spend extra time on discovering further spending cuts.
“We’ll see,” he mentioned when requested about whether or not he would vote to maneuver ahead.
He mentioned earlier than the lunch assembly that the Senate is “not ready” to start voting on the invoice this weekend.
“We’re just not ready for it, I hope that they don’t do that,” he mentioned.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) advised reporters after the lunch that he’s not able to vote to maneuver ahead on the invoice until he sees substantial modifications to it.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) says he’s a tough “no” on the laws as a result of it features a provision to boost the debt restrict by $5 trillion.
“Some people want to spend more money, some people want to spend less money. And so they’re pulling. I don’t know if it rips. If they keep going in the current direction, they could rip it apart,” he mentioned. “I think it eventually is going to be much more of a spending bill than a bill that rectifies the debt problem.”
