The Senate version of legislation to enact President Trump’s agenda is hitting new turbulence as conservatives led by Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) are demanding deeper spending cuts to address the nation’s $2.2 trillion annual deficit.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has focused this week on addressing the concerns of Senate GOP colleagues such as Sens. Josh Hawley (Mo.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), who raised alarms about cuts to federal Medicaid spending.
But Thune has to worry about his right flank as Johnson and his allies are threatening to hold up the bill unless GOP leaders agree to deeper cuts to federal Medicaid spending and a faster rollback of the renewable energy tax credits enacted under former President Biden.
Johnson, Lee and Scott are threatening to vote as a bloc against the bill next week unless it undergoes significant changes.
Thune plans to bring the bill to the floor Wednesday or Thursday next week, but he may not have enough votes to proceed on the legislation, Republican senators say.
President Trump on Friday floated the possibility of firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell as part of his latest round of intense criticism of the leader of the central bank over its decision not to lower interest rates.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Wednesday recommended that Boeing modify the engines on 737 Max planes due to a safety problem caused by bird strikes.
Nearly 1,000 ships have experienced “persistent and sometimes severe” GPS signal jams every day the past week near Iran as the country continues to face bombardment from Israel’s military, a French naval monitoring firm warned Friday.
Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough has ruled that several key pieces of the massive bill to implement President Trump’s agenda run afoul of the Byrd Rule and must be taken out of the package to allow it to pass with a simple majority vote on a special procedural fast track. Read more
Tens of thousands of U.S. troops are within Iran’s striking distance should President Trump decide to wade into Israel’s conflict with Tehran and directly attack the country. More than 40,000 American service members and civilians – as well as billions of dollars in military equipment – are in the Middle…
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) labeled the spending bill a “debt bomb ticking” on Thursday ahead of the House vote passing legislation along party lines following an all-night marathon session. The bill includes language increasing the debt limit by $4 trillion. It would also extend Trump’s tax cuts from 2017, add…
Seven of the 10 inmates who busted out of a New Orleans jail on Friday, including two murder suspects, had not been found as of Monday as a sweeping manhunt is underway in Louisiana. “You can run, but you CANNOT HIDE. We will hunt each of you down,” Louisiana Gov.…