Sunday shows preview: House GOP bill faces weary Senate; Trump-Harvard battle crescendos

President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” slimly passed the House on Thursday morning after lawmakers wrestled with the legislation during an all-night session.

The GOP spending bill now rests before a weary upper chamber as Medicaid reforms and deficit expansion remain concerns for Senate Republicans. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has urged his colleagues not to tamper with the bill’s language, citing a very “delicate equilibrium” reached between the party’s fiscal hawks and Republicans in blue states pushing for tax breaks.

Under a deal with the latter, the SALT Caucus, Johnson has agreed to tow against any proposed Senate changes. 

Still, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has already raised several slated revisions. Johnson will likely address how he aims to mitigate the muddy waters between the two chambers during his appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Fox News’ “Fox News Sunday” and CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has already committed to voting down the bill, slamming a decision to increase the debt ceiling by $4 trillion while Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) has also criticized the bill. Paul and Johnson will join Fox News’ “Fox News Sunday” and CNN’s “State of the Union, respectively, and will likely share more insights into their apprehensions.

While Washington grapples with Trump’s spending bill, one of the country’s oldest educational institutions remains embattled with the federal government. Harvard University has filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent the administration’s elimination of their Student and Exchange Visitor Program certificate, which allows international students to study at the school. 

Campus officials have called the move by the Trump administration a blow to First Amendment rights and said the administration was retaliating after the school signed on to other lawsuits against the administration.

“The revocation continues a series of government actions to retaliate against Harvard for our refusal to surrender our academic independence and to submit to the federal government’s illegal assertion of control over our curriculum, our faculty, and our student body” Harvard’s President Alan Garber wrote in an open letter to students.

The crack down also comes as multiple foreign visa holders, particularly on college campuses, have been detained after voicing support for Palestine amid the war in Gaza. Human rights advocates have sparked concerns over the humanitarian crisis in the region reporting a dire need for food and aid.

Cindy McCain, executive director of the UN’s World Food Programme will likely outline conditions in the Middle East during her appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

Please see the full list for Sunday show guests below:

NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday:” Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.), ambassador Wendy Sherman, a former deputy secretary of the State Department

CBS’ “Face the Nation:” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.); Reps. Jim Himes (D-Conn.); Zach Nunn (R-Iowa), and Don Davis (D-N.C.); Cindy McCain, executive director of the World Food Program

CNN’s “State of the Union:” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.); Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.)

NBC’s “Meet the Press:” Dr. Vivek Murthy, a former U.S. surgeon general; former Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.)

Fox News’ “Fox News Sunday:” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.); Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.)

Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures:” Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.),  Matthew Whitaker, U.S. Ambassador to NATO, Michael Faulkender, deputy secretary of the Treasury Department