'Hard argument to make': Decisive number of GOP senators not supporting Trump's bill
A number of Senate Republicans who have so far withheld their backing for the party’s large-scale tax and spending proposal have indicated that the latest details shared by GOP leaders failed to win them over, The Hill reported Monday.
Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), two of the bill’s most outspoken opponents, made it clear they remained unsatisfied with the revisions, per the report. And Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) have also not committed to supporting the legislation. While Paul is considered a strong "no" vote due to the bill's increasing of the debt ceiling, Collins has spoken out in the past against cuts to Medicaid, while Scott has called for more spending cuts. The Hill reported that Scott is more amenable to a smaller number of cuts than Johnson. However, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) can only afford three defections from the Senate Republican Conference if he hopes to pass the bill with a tie-breaking vote from Vice President JD Vance.
The draft released by the Senate Finance Committee that day addressed several of the most divisive topics Republicans have been grappling with — such as Medicaid, taxes, and green energy tax credits. It also introduced notable changes from the version previously passed by the House.
Johnson expressed his frustration after a Senate GOP conference meeting where members were briefed on the legislation.
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“We’re not doing anything to significantly alter the course of the financial future of this country,” Johnson said, per the report, adding that he intends to release a report explaining “why I’m not particularly uplifting” about the nation’s financial outlook.
“It just simply doesn’t meet the moment. It’s inadequate,” he said.
Johnson has regularly criticized the legislation for insufficient spending cuts and has pushed for a return to pre-pandemic spending levels.
He is of the opinion that the measure is far from being ready and likely won’t meet the party’s goal of passing it by July 4.
“Not by July 4th. No way,” he stated.
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Hawley is particularly firm in his stance against reducing Medicaid funding. He has repeatedly stated he would not support any legislation that slashes benefits.
The Hill report notes that while the Senate's version of the bill adopted a more moderate strategy for phasing out the tax credits from former President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act — compared to the more aggressive House-passed version — it proposed deeper cuts to Medicaid.
“That’s going to be a hard argument to make in Missouri,” Hawley said.
Speaking more broadly about the legislation, he reportedly remarked, “It sounds to me like this needs some work.”
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