The Senate is working to put Trump's big bill back on track but hurdles
remain
[June 28, 2025]
By LISA MASCARO
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans appeared Friday to push President
Donald Trump's big bill back on track after a flurry of last-minute
revisions, including deep cuts to food stamps, but there's still a long
way to go ahead of expected weekend votes.
Trump himself at first gave Congress some breathing room as senators
race to meet his Fourth of July deadline, declaring, "It’s not the end
all,” during a press conference at the White House. But he reversed
course a short while later, insisting Republicans in the House ensure
it's done by the Independence Day holiday.
“We can get it done,” Trump said in a post. “It will be a wonderful
Celebration for our Country.”
As the party in majority power, Republicans are grinding through a
punch-list of still-unsettled issues as they try to push the package to
passage over unified Democratic opposition. Republicans are relying on
steep cuts to health care, food stamps and green energy investments to
help pay for $3.8 trillion in tax breaks, their top priority. Any one of
the roadblocks could doom the sprawling package.
The proposed Medicaid cuts, in particular, have raised stark concerns
among some GOP senators worried that millions in their states will lose
access to the health care program. At the same time, a tentative deal
between the White House and House GOP lawmakers from New York and other
high-tax districts over the size of a state and local tax deduction,
called SALT, needs broader agreement.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, who sent his lawmakers home for the weekend
with plans to be on call to return swiftly to Washington, said they are
“very close” to finishing up.
“We would still like to meet that July 4th, self-imposed deadline,” said
Johnson, R-La.
Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune have stayed close to the
White House throughout the process of drafting the big package, which
they stress is needed to avoid a massive tax hike at the end of the year
when current tax rates expire. The GOP leadership is relying on Trump to
pressure holdout lawmakers to push it to passage.
“My expectation is at some point tomorrow we’ll be ready to go,” Thune
said. He was referring to the start of what is expected to be a
multi-day process of speeches and voting in the days ahead, before a
final roll call vote.
The speaker made the walk across the Capitol to join Senate Republicans
for lunch, where they also met with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent
over the emerging SALT deal.
But it's not a done deal yet, Bessent said afterward. He acknowledged
the Senate's reaction to the latest offer was “varied.”
The White House and House Republicans had narrowed on a plan to keep the
SALT provision on the House-passed terms of a $40,000 cap on deductions
— but for five years, instead of 10.
The SALT deduction has been a key holdup as lawmakers from New York and
other high-tax states negotiate. They want to quadruple what’s now a
$10,000 cap. Senate Republicans argued that it’s too generous, costing
hundreds of billions of dollars for the benefit of a few lawmakers' home
regions.
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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent arrives for a closed-door
Republican meeting to advance President Donald Trump's sweeping
domestic policy bill, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, June 27,
2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
With their narrow majorities in the House and Senate, they need
almost every lawmaker on board with the package to ensure passage.
One GOP holdout, Rep. Nick LaLota of New York, says he can’t support
the compromise.
But other provisions were being shored up after a series of setbacks
when the Senate parliamentarian advised they would not pass the
chamber's strict “Byrd Rule” that largely bars policy matters from
inclusion in budget bills, unless they can pass the 60-vote
threshold that GOP leaders want to avoid.
The Republican proposal to shift the costs of the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, has been accepted by
the Senate parliamentarian.
Sen. John Boozman of Arkansas, the chairman of the Senate
Agriculture Committee, said provisions to make certain immigrants
ineligible for food aid were also accepted.
“This paves the way for important reforms that improve efficiency
and management of SNAP,” he said.
But the panel’s top Democrat, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, said
her party will “keep fighting these proposals that raise grocery
costs and take food away from millions of people, including seniors,
children, and veterans.”
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has said some 10.9
million more people will go without health care and at least 3
million fewer would qualify for food aid under the House-passed
bill. CBO has not yet publicly assessed the Senate draft, which has
proposed steeper reductions.
The top income earners would see about a $12,000 tax cut under the
House-passed bill, while the poorest Americans would see a $1,600
tax hike, the CBO said.
The parliamentarian also accepted a revised proposal from the Senate
Banking Committee to cut, rather than gut, the funding structure for
the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The entity was set up in
the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, but Trump has downsized
the bureau and its staff.
Still, a range of GOP provisions have been found to be out of
compliance with Senate rules — including shielding certain firearms
silencers from taxes and creating a national school voucher program.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck said Republicans are rushing to
finish the bill before the public fully knows what’s in it.
“There’s no good reason for Republicans to chase a silly deadline,”
Schumer said.
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Associated Press writers Kevin Freking, Joey Cappelletti, Fatima
Hussein, Seung Min Kim and Chris Megerian contributed to this
report.
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