On Tuesday night, the GOP-controlled House of Representatives narrowly sent its comprehensive budget bill to the Senate by a 217-213 margin. But the U.S. Senate's Republican majority is already indicating the legislation could look very different by the time they're finished.
CNN congressional reporter Manu Raju tweeted Wednesday that even Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.) — an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump — isn't excited about the House's budget package. When Raju asked the Louisiana Republican what the chances were of the Senate passing the House version as-is, Kennedy said: "Short answer is likely no. Long answer is, hell no."
"That’s not a denigration of the good work that the House has done, it’s just that senators have thoughts of their own," Kennedy said.
READ MORE: 'This will kill people': GOP blasted for gutting Medicaid to pay for $4.5 trillion tax cut
In its current form, the House Republican bill would cut spending by approximately $2 trillion across all federal agencies, including $800 billion from Medicaid (which provides health insurance to low-income Americans). The legislation also extends Trump's 2017 tax cut legislation that disproportionately benefits the wealthiest Americans for 10 years, at a cost of $4.5 trillion. The lone Republican dissenter Tuesday night was Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who was concerned about the bill adding $20 trillion to the national debt.
Republicans control the Senate by a 53-47 margin, and even though the budget reconciliation process only requires 51 votes, the House version may still prove to be unpalatable for more moderate members of the Senate Republican Conference. All eyes will be on Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Thom Tilis (R-N.C.), who are viewed as the most centrist Senate Republicans. However, other Republicans could also bristle at the scope of cuts to Medicaid. This includes Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) who has previously said he "would not do severe cuts to Medicaid."
Kennedy emphasized that "both the House and the Senate have a common objective and it’s not a competition." He noted that after the Senate passes its own version, the real work will begin in the conference session, when members of both the House and Senate hammer out the finer details with the goal of getting it to Trump's desk.
"I fully expect this to go to a conference committee and, as I said yesterday, work it out and then we’ll hug and have a cup of hot cocoa and start the real work, which is putting the meat on the bone," he added.