The sprawling invoice to enact President Trump’s “big, beautiful” agenda is dropping momentum within the Senate within the face of blistering assaults from Elon Musk and outspoken opposition from conservatives.
Senate Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) warned colleagues at a particular convention assembly Wednesday afternoon that there are two possible “no” votes in opposition to the invoice throughout the Senate GOP convention, which suggests only one extra defection would derail the laws, in accordance with a senator who attended the assembly.
“Crapo just said I think of us are two of us who are pretty definite ‘no’s’ which means we can’t lose anybody else,” the supply mentioned.
Crapo didn’t title names however colleagues assumed he was speaking about conservative Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.).
Paul says he’ll vote in opposition to the invoice as a result of it contains language to boost the debt ceiling by $4 trillion, extending the federal authorities’s borrowing authority previous the 2026 midterm election.
Johnson, in the meantime, has referred to as for Senate GOP colleagues to scrap the Home-passed invoice and transfer a smaller measure that might concentrate on extending the 2017 Trump tax cuts, securing the border and banking on the spending cuts recognized by Home committee chairs.
“What I am rock solid on is that I can’t accept this as the new normal,” he mentioned of projections that the annual federal deficit will attain $2.2 trillion in 2025 and develop to $2.7 trillion by 2035.
“We have our chance to reverse this,” he mentioned of rising deficits. “I will not be responsible for continuing this.”
Paul and Johnson are stepping up their criticism of the invoice simply as Musk is urging lawmakers to “KILL” the laws, warning it would blow up the deficit.
“Call your Senator, Call your Congressman, Bankrupting America is NOT ok! KILL the BILL,” Musk posted on the social media platform, X.
The Congressional Finances Workplace on Wednesday projected that the 1,116-page Home handed invoice will at $2.4 trillion to the deficit over the following decade.
Trump has set a July 4 deadline for Congress to get the invoice to his desk. However some GOP lawmakers say that’s trying more and more unlikely due to a battle between Republican senators over cuts to Medicaid, the Supplemental Diet Help Program (SNAP) and the repeal of renewable vitality tax incentives.
“It won’t happen,” Johnson mentioned.
“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 mentioned.
He mentioned the package deal may embody spending cuts already handed by the Home, resembling a proposal to scale back federal subsidies to Medicaid by $698 billion and cut back SNAP spending by $267 billion.
The expectation that Paul and Johnson will vote in opposition to the invoice may give extra leverage to Republicans who need to make different adjustments, additional delaying the trouble. These moderates embody Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), who’re warning in opposition to Medicaid spending cuts that might have an effect on advantages.
Senate Republican management 53 seats which suggests they may solely afford three defections and nonetheless go the invoice.
Collins, Murkowski, Hawley and Moran say they’re carefully following the proposed reforms to Medicaid.
“I am evaluating those provisions,” Collins mentioned of the adjustments Medicaid.
She mentioned it’s tough to completely assess the invoice till the Senate parliamentarian weighs in on what coverage adjustments can stay within the laws and which must be stripped out for it to qualify for fast-track consideration on the ground.
She mentioned a number of the most controversial provisions “may fall out.”
“We still don’t know exactly what we’re looking at,” she mentioned.
Collins, who’s up for re-election in a state that former Vice President Kamala Harris carried within the 2024 election, mentioned she’s involved about adjustments to the SNAP program that might require Maine to shoulder extra of its prices.
She mentioned the invoice “switches a lot of the administrative costs” for SNAP “onto the state.”
Murkowski mentioned it will likely be “hard” to satisfy Trump’s deadline of passing the invoice by July 4, noting that even after Republican senators attain a deal, most of the provisions will must be vetted by the Senate parliamentarian.
Moran mentioned he’s “waiting for where we end up in the Ag Committee” on reforms to SNAP.
“What we do will be different from the House. I’m analyzing and participating in the discussion,” he mentioned.
He mentioned the negotiations over vitamin program for low-income Individuals are “taking time.”
Republicans at a particular assembly Wednesday afternoon mentioned increasing their seek for financial savings to Medicaid, regardless of Trump’s warning to Home lawmakers final month to not “f— with Medicaid.”
And, notably, they raised the opportunity of adjustments to Medicare.
“There’s a legitimate debate about, ‘Can we do more with Medicaid? Are we doing too much with Medicaid? How much waste, fraud and abuse is there in Medicare? Why don’t we go after that?’ I think we should,” Cramer mentioned after assembly with colleagues to debate the invoice.
Cramer mentioned senators talked about additionally analyzing waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare to additional cut back future deficits.
“There was a lot of presentation and then debate, people throwing out other ideas, like, ‘What about waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare?’” he mentioned.
However tackling waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare could be a time-consuming process and certain generate plenty of nervousness amongst GOP senators who’re balking at cuts to Medicaid that they fear may affect advantages.
“Some people are making that case, other people are wringing their hands,” Cramer mentioned of the interior debate.
