Megabill Amendment That Would Have Helped Rural Hospitals Fails
The measure would have created a top marginal tax rate for high-income earners and would have fully offset the cost of expanding the hospital relief fund, The Hill reports. The Senate also is voting on the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage, Planned Parenthood funding, SNAP cuts, and more.
The Hill:
Senate Defeats Susan Collins Proposal To Raise Taxes On Highest Earners To Help Rural Hospitals
The Senate voted early Tuesday morning to defeat an amendment sponsored by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) to create a new top marginal tax rate for the nation’s wealthiest income earners and use the money to double the size of a proposed rural hospital relief fund from $25 billion to $50 billion. Senators voted 22 to 78 against a motion to waive a 60-vote budget point of order against the amendment. (Bolton, 7/1)
The Hill:
GOP Leaders Looking To Expand Enhanced Medicaid Matching Rate To Woo Lisa Murkowski
Senate Republican leaders are discussing a proposal to expand an enhanced Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) matching rate to five states, including Alaska and Hawaii, to get the parliamentarian to sign off the proposal, which could be critical to locking down Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s (R-Alaska) vote. GOP negotiators are floating a plan to expand the enhanced FMAP rate to North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming — in addition to Hawaii and Alaska — and recalculating the formula for higher federal assistance so that it is based on states’ population density, according to a Senate source briefed on the discussion. (Bolton, 6/30)
The Hill:
Collins, Murkowski Vote With Democrats On Striking Planned Parenthood Provision From GOP Megabill
Republican Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) on Monday sided with Democrats who were trying to strike a provision from the GOP’s megabill that would bar Planned Parenthood health centers from receiving Medicaid funding for services provided to low-income women across the country. The two were the only Republicans to vote for a motion to waive a budget point of order against an amendment to remove the provision. (Bolton, 6/30)
Roll Call:
Senate Abortion Provider Defunding Language OK’d By Parliamentarian
Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough advised Monday that language that would block Planned Parenthood from Medicaid funding eligibility would be permissible for inclusion in the sweeping budget reconciliation bill, a major blow for the nation’s largest provider of reproductive services. (Raman, 6/30)
Bloomberg:
SNAP Food Stamp Cuts Laid Out In Big Beautiful Bill To Hit Millions
President Donald Trump’s allies love to talk about the food we’re eating here in the US: too sugary, too processed, too artificially dyed. What they’re not talking about, though, is how many Americans don’t have enough of it, whether it’s healthy or not. If the Republicans get their way, the number of them will only go up. Exactly how the right-leaning majorities in the House and Senate will cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, more commonly known as SNAP, is being negotiated. But their intentions are clear: Shrink its reach, reduce the benefits of the people still on it, and leave it to the states to take the blame. (Shanker, 6/30)
Politico:
The Senate Megabill Is On A Collision Course With House Fiscal Hawks
House fiscal hawks are looking at the math underlying Senate Republicans’ sprawling domestic policy legislation, and they don’t like what they see. As Senate Republicans try to muscle President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” for final passage, they’re on track to violate a budget framework brokered between House fiscal hawks and Speaker Mike Johnson. Under that framework, if the GOP piles on tax cuts over $4 trillion, they’d need to match them dollar-for-dollar with additional spending cuts beyond the $1.5 trillion in the House-passed bill. (Guggenheim, 6/30)
CNBC:
Trump Bill Helps Wealthy, Hurts Low Earners: Yale Report
A massive legislative package Senate Republicans are trying to pass this week would hurt the lowest-earning Americans financially while boosting the incomes of wealthier households, according to a Yale Budget Lab analysis issued Monday. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” would reduce income by 2.9% (about $700) for the bottom 20% of households, according to the Yale analysis. These households have an income of less than $13,350, it said. (Iacurci, 6/30)
Politico:
Elon Musk Says He'll Launch Third Party If Megabill Passes
Elon Musk said Monday he would follow through on threats to establish a third party if President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” is enacted by Congress. Musk said on X his “America Party will be formed the next day” after its passage. He posted as the Senate moved closer to a final vote on what he called an “insane” domestic policy bill. (Svirnovskiy, 6/30)
