Welcome to Washington: Trump’s ‘One, Big Beautiful Bill’ Is Already on Life Support

“What did he say?” a member of Congress asked me this past week shortly after Speaker Johnson left a conference room just off the House floor. The lawmaker in question, with shirt sleeves rolled up and tie slightly undone, had been in the room next door around eight o’clock Wednesday night, smoking cigars and drinking with fellow Republicans. I told the congressman that the budget framework for President Trump’s “one big beautiful bill” would not get a vote that night. The congressman spun back around and whipped open the door to the literal smoke-filled room where around 30 other lawmakers had been relaxing for the better part of two hours. “No vote tonight!” he declared to his colleagues before slamming the door behind him. Welcome to Washington, where this past week the dysfunction of the Republican congressional majority was put on display for the first time. It is not chaos in its most earnest sense — like when Speaker McCarthy was removed from office — but rather a total suspension of certainty. For more than an hour this past week, around 20 deficit hawks crammed into a small conference room off the House floor with Mr. Johnson to tell him that his bill was dead for the time being. The next morning, Mr. Johnson was able to declare victory after the House voted by a margin of 216 to 214 to pass the Senate version of Mr. Trump’s reconciliation package. The legislation is due to include tax cuts, and additional funding for the military and deportation operations. Yes, it seems like something on which all members of the GOP could agree, though even Mr. Johnson could not twist enough arms to get the framework bill through the House on Wednesday night. For that, he had to call in Senator Thune, who promised that the Senate would take at least $1.5 trillion out of the budget over the course of the next decade, and take a look at repealing provisions of the green energy tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act. Mr. Trump, too, had to call lawmakers on Wednesday night and smooth over their concerns about spending levels. One of the two GOP lawmakers to vote no on the budget framework, Congressman Thomas Massie, laughed when I asked him about Mr. Thune offering a handshake agreement to cut spending. “I hope it works out for them,” Mr. Massie told me. “The people who traded their vote for a promise — that’s just salve for their conscience.”In law, the Senate budget framework mandates only $4 billion — yes, with a “b” — in spending reductions over the next decade. A $1.5 trillion cut may be a dream for House conservatives, though it is about as far from a guarantee as one can get at this point. Republicans can only afford to lose three lawmakers in the House and three in the Senate in order to pass this one big beautiful bill, as the president likes to call it. After the House Freedom Caucus declared victory on Thursday when Mr. Thune promised to cut more — including the green energy credits — senators were quick to come out against the plan. Four senators in total — Lisa Murkowski, Thom Tillis, John Curtis, and Jerry Moran — said they would oppose any effort to eliminate the energy tax credits in the upcoming legislative package, which is a major goal of deficit hawks. The senators say that doing so “would create uncertainty, jeopardizing capital allocation, long-term project planning, and job creation in the energy sector.”Those problems have arisen without even getting to the issue of Medicaid. Republicans have promised that no eligible person for Medicaid will see their benefits reduced as a result of this bill, though the budget framework says nearly $900 billion will be cut in the coming weeks by the committee that oversees the Medicaid program, leading many to believe that cuts are coming. Senators Moran, Hawley, and Collins have all said they will not vote for any legislation that cuts Medicaid benefits or makes major changes to eligibility. The fear of cutting the program was so great that Ms. Collins — who leads the Appropriations Committee — voted against the framework itself. The dance from Messrs. Johnson and Thune is sure to be one to watch in the coming weeks, with lawmakers publicly staking out ground in a legislative fight that is due to leave everyone at least somewhat underwhelmed, if they can even get a bill to the floor in the first place.

Welcome to Washington: Trump’s ‘One, Big Beautiful Bill’ Is Already on Life Support

Welcome to Washington: Trump’s ‘One, Big Beautiful Bill’ Is Already on Life Support

More from the New York Sun

Kristin Scott Thomas Once Again Shows How Chekhov Is Done

Delivery Robots Are Collecting Hungry Users’ Biometric Data Without Their Consent, Lawsuits Allege

Taryn Simon Transforms the Guggenheim Into a 42-Chapter American Spy Novel

Taiwan, in Aftermath of Trump-Xi Summit and Trump Campaign Visit to Alaska, Pledges Massive Investment in LNG Pipeline

American Military Now Saving Crewmembers Before Blowing Up Suspected Drug Boats Off Ecuador

Trump Appears to Fire Katie Zacharia — Tells Her To ‘Reconsider’ Position as White House Press Secretary

Federal Judge Blocks Trump Administration From Relocating Forest Service’s Headquarters Closer to the Forests It Serves

Broken Windows Policing on the Ballot in New York’s Attorney General Race

More from the New York Sun

Kristin Scott Thomas Once Again Shows How Chekhov Is Done

Delivery Robots Are Collecting Hungry Users’ Biometric Data Without Their Consent, Lawsuits Allege

Taryn Simon Transforms the Guggenheim Into a 42-Chapter American Spy Novel

Taiwan, in Aftermath of Trump-Xi Summit and Trump Campaign Visit to Alaska, Pledges Massive Investment in LNG Pipeline

American Military Now Saving Crewmembers Before Blowing Up Suspected Drug Boats Off Ecuador

Trump Appears to Fire Katie Zacharia — Tells Her To ‘Reconsider’ Position as White House Press Secretary

Federal Judge Blocks Trump Administration From Relocating Forest Service’s Headquarters Closer to the Forests It Serves

Broken Windows Policing on the Ballot in New York’s Attorney General Race