Republicans hate the reconciliation bill

IN THIS EDITION

The reconciliation bill Republicans love to hate

Vought’s tough sell on rescissions

Rustbelt Dems praise Trump’s steel tariffs

ICYMI: Murphy on Medicaid cuts, the future of medicine

THE TOP

The reconciliation bill Republicans love to hate

Happy Wednesday morning.

There are nine days until July 4 — Republicans’ deadline to pass President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill.”

But there’s a problem — It seems like lots of Republicans loathe the GOP’s massive reconciliation bill. The complaints span the party’s ideological spectrum — and they’re only getting louder.

1) Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) likened proposed Medicaid cuts to Republicans’ Obamacare, the electoral albatross that dragged Democrats down for several cycles. Over two days, Tillis circulated flyers explaining how bad the Senate GOP reconciliation bill is for North Carolina due to Medicaid cuts, as we’ve scooped. Tillis is arguing that Republicans on the ballot in 2026 — including himself — will suffer as a result.

2) Several Senate Republicans are worried that the reconciliation bill’s provider tax crackdown will hurt rural hospitals. Now they’re demanding a “stabilization fund” for these facilities. In addition to Tillis, this group includes Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.), among others.

Senate GOP leaders are expected to give into this demand. Yet senators still have no idea how the stabilization fund will be structured or what the price tag is. House GOP leaders don’t think it’ll be enough to satisfy their moderates fuming over the provider tax escalation.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader John Thune is signaling he’s not interested in the House GOP’s less-drastic provider tax framework. During Tuesday’s party lunch, Thune told Tillis that it’s a key pay-for that helps Senate Republicans hit their spending-cut target.

3) House GOP conservatives are again up in arms over Senate Republicans scaling back the spending and clean energy cuts included in the House-passed reconciliation package. Rep. Mark Harris (R-N.C.) said he’s growing more concerned each day. House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) and Reps. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) and Chip Roy (R-Texas) have all said they’ll vote against the reconciliation bill if it comes to the floor like this.

4) House SALT Caucus members say they don’t have a deal with Senate Republicans and won’t vote for any bill that doesn’t maintain the House’s state-and-local tax deduction structure. GOP senators, meanwhile, are getting impatient. More on that in a bit.

5) Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) is continuing to rail against the bill, arguing it doesn’t cut nearly enough spending. Johnson raised these concerns again during the Republicans’ lunch Tuesday.

6) Roy is pushing to restore expansions of health savings accounts from the House bill. That’s an addition that Senate Republicans are actually considering, as we scooped.

So instead of trying to build support for the unpopular legislation, a number of Republicans are spending their days saying just how bad it is, how much it adds to the national debt, how it will gut health care for needy populations, cut food stamps and sink the GOP’s electoral prospects next year.

Take Hawley, for example. He’s been touting the fact that the bill includes funding for victims of nuclear contamination, a major legislative priority for the Missouri Republican. But the provider tax crackdown could render that provision moot if hospitals are forced to close.

“It’s going to expand health care coverage for a lot of people in my state,” Hawley said of the funding for radiation victims. “But they have to have a hospital to go to. It’s a problem.”

Look at the intramural GOP clash over SALT, an important political issue in blue states. New York, California and New Jersey House backers are desperate to sell SALT relief as a win back home. Instead, they’re dealing with Senate Republicans insisting on a lesser deal.

“We’re going to get something — I’d refrain from calling it a deal — that both sides aren’t going to love,” said Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), who’s been deputized by Senate GOP leaders to work with the House SALT Caucus. “But hopefully it gives them more reasons to vote for it than vote against it.”

Mullin spoke with Trump on Tuesday and said the president is eager to get the bill done. During Tuesday’s lunch, Mullin fielded questions from Senate Republicans frustrated with what they see as an intransigent House SALT Caucus.

State of play. Despite these challenges, Senate GOP leaders aren’t backing off of their goal to get this bill over the finish line within the next few days. They’re betting that the intense pressure of the impending recess, tied with Trump’s return from the NATO summit, will get everyone in line.

GOP senators expect Trump to significantly ramp up his engagement with the Hill once he returns from the Netherlands tonight.

This is a big gamble by Thune and his leadership team. As we wrote Tuesday morning, Thune also seems to be gearing up to jam the House using those same pressure points to his advantage.

Yet before Senate Republicans can finalize the bill’s text, they need to finish the Byrd Bath. Senate aides from both parties have been meeting with the parliamentarian on the Senate Finance Committee’s text for the last two days. The arguments are expected to keep going today.

Meanwhile, several Senate committees are expected to release updated legislative text as soon as this morning. The new text will reflect the initial Byrd rulings, which have been coming in daily over the past week or so.

This could all tee up a release of full updated bill text as soon as Thursday and floor action Friday, but GOP senators will have to settle their problems fast to make that happen.

HFC update. The House Freedom Caucus is expected to meet tonight with Senate conservatives to talk reconciliation at their weekly dinner.

— Andrew Desiderio, Laura Weiss, Jake Sherman and Mica Soellner

Don’t miss: The latest quarterly special edition of Tech is here. We talk with OpenAI’s Chris Lehane, break down the major players in the spectrum debate and catch you up on the latest in kids’ online safety. Plus, the Power Matrix. Check your inboxes and our website later this morning for more.

APPROPS WATCH

Vought’s tough sell on rescissions

This afternoon, we’ll find out how good a salesman OMB Director Russ Vought really is.

Vought has spent the last few months sticking his finger in the eyes of congressional appropriators by freezing funding, dismissing their calls for more FY 2026 budget details and floating the controversial use of “pocket rescissions.”

Now, Vought will have to convince skeptical Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee to vote for the House-passed $9.4 billion rescissions package crafted by the Trump administration. He’ll appear before the panel at 2:30 p.m. today.

Several GOP appropriators have expressed concerns about the proposed cuts to public broadcasting and PEPFAR, a successful HIV/AIDS prevention program created under the George W. Bush administration.

Vought will need at least 51 senators to approve the rescissions package. He doesn’t have the support right now.

The process. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has tasked the Appropriations panel with processing the rescissions bill before it heads to the floor, but it’s unclear if it will be amended in committee or on the floor. The floor is more likely, GOP senators said.

Either way, it’ll need to be changed in order to pass. On top of that, the Senate will be operating under a tight timeline. The bill needs to reach President Donald Trump’s desk by July 18 or the money will be spent as Congress dictated.

Most of the rescissions cover foreign aid, as well as more than $1 billion approved for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which helps fund PBS and NPR.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) said Vought will need to provide a “justification” for the proposed rescissions. Collins has been clear that she opposes the cuts to PEPFAR.

But Collins isn’t Vought’s only problem on the panel. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) has previously pushed back on some of the administration’s USAID cuts. Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) aren’t happy with the plan to kill funding for public broadcasting.

Rounds said he plans to ask Vought about his “logic” for these cuts.

“Step by step, we’ll work our way through it and then we’ll see what the outcome is,” Rounds said.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the former longtime GOP leader, is also someone to watch. McConnell has long supported foreign aid programs and global health funding, especially PEPFAR. McConnell is a defense hawk too — and the panel is stacked with them.

The big picture. Whether Vought can convince enough GOP senators to vote for the rescissions package will have broader implications for the annual appropriations process.

Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.), the top Democrat on the committee, has said it would be nearly impossible for a bipartisan FY2026 funding deal if Republicans approve this rescissions measure.

Murray plans to highlight how Vought has undermined Congress’ power of the purse, according to Murray’s prepared remarks. The concern for Democrats is that Vought will send more rescissions packages if Republicans enact the current one — which Vought has said he would do.

“I worry at a time when we should be coming together to ensure the safety, economic growth, and security of this country — instead, we will race forward with rescission package after rescission package,” Murray says in her written remarks.

— Samantha Handler and Andrew Desiderio

DEMOCRATS X TRUMP

Rustbelt Dems praise Trump’s steel tariffs

It’s tough to find a Democrat in Washington with anything nice to say about President Donald Trump’s policies. But Midwestern Democrats are finding a lot to like about his steel tariffs.

Trump doubled the tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from 25% to 50% this month, an aggressive move that’ll impact many countries, including U.S. allies. And though most Democrats disagree with the haphazard tariff approach Trump has taken, some say the effort to protect U.S. steel manufacturing is a good one.

Rep. Frank Mrvan (D-Ind.), vice chair of the bipartisan Steel Caucus, agrees with Trump that steel production is a national security issue. Mrvan also lobbied President Joe Biden to keep 25% tariffs in place during his administration.

“We’re beginning to produce more steel in our area and that’s a good thing,” Mrvan told us. “It is ripe for Democrats and Republicans to work together to make sure that we create work and wealth in our districts and protect the steel industry when it comes to our national security.”

Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.) echoed that sentiment, arguing that foreign steel being dumped into the United States has been an issue that’s particularly impacted the Rust Belt.

“There’s a strategic reason to increase prices to make sure there’s a fairer and level playing field,” Jackson said.

Rep. Val Hoyle (D-Ore.) said she agrees with Trump that past trade deals didn’t prioritize American steel workers, but Congress should also weigh in on U.S. tariff policy.

Some Democrats have introduced legislation to give Congress authority over tariffs in response to Trump’s trade war, but there’s little chance those bills will be taken up with Republicans in control of Washington.

“I absolutely support the use of tariffs in a strategic, well-thought-out way, but Congress should be weighing on the tariffs,” Hoyle said.

Steel latest. The long-awaited Nippon Steel deal to acquire U.S. Steel was finalized last week with a structured plan to give Trump increased power in the partnership.

Trump will have the ability to name a board member as part of a non-economic golden share agreement. Trump will also have a say when it comes to exporting jobs overseas and cutting production. The administration must approve any relocation of U.S. Steel’s headquarters outside of Pittsburgh, Pa.

The Japanese corporation made the roughly $15 billion purchase after the Biden administration attempted to block the deal, arguing the move to place the country’s biggest steel producer under foreign ownership could impact national security and the U.S. supply chain.

– Mica Soellner

PUNCHBOWL NEWS EVENTS

ICYMI: Murphy on Medicaid cuts, the future of medicine

Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) is calling on the United States to maintain its edge as a global leader or risk ceding that position to China.

Murphy spoke at a Punchbowl News event Tuesday for the culmination of our series, The Future of Medicine. He also weighed in on the Senate’s changes to the Medicaid provisions in the House-passed reconciliation bill, saying he would not vote for those alterations.

You can watch the full video here.

– Elvina Nawaguna

…AND THERE’S MORE

Zohran Mamdani wins NYC mayoral Democratic primary. It wasn’t even that close. Mamdani trounced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo by seven points.

We’ll note that neither House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries nor Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer endorsed anyone in this race. Now their party’s standard bearer for mayor of America’s largest city will be a candidate who declined to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada.” Both Jeffries and Schumer’s camps didn’t respond to our request for comment Tuesday night.

Ad news. Liberal outside group Unrig Our Economy is launching ads attacking Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) over proposed Medicaid cuts in the GOP reconciliation bill. The ads, part of the group’s $5 million Medicaid ad campaign, highlight the same concerns that Tillis has raised with his Senate Republican colleagues.

Both of the ads feature constituents who rely on Medicaid benefits making personal pleas to Collins and Tillis to protect funding for the government health care program.

Unrig Our Economy is also going after Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) in TV and radio ads featuring a constituent with MS who relies on Medicaid. Miller-Meeks is one of the most at-risk House incumbents.

New Dems grow. Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner Pablo Hernández has joined the New Democrat Coalition.

— Max Cohen and Mica Soellner

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