It’s Thursday. If you listen closely, you may be able to hear the GOP grumbling over the Senate bill.
In today’s issue:
- Senate referee guts huge chunk of GOP bill
- Only eight days until bill deadline. What now?
- Supreme Court deals blow to Planned Parenthood
- Birthright citizenship decision coming tomorrow
🚨️ ON CAPITOL HILL
So, this is a big deal:
The Senate parliamentarian dealt a major blow to Republicans’ “big, beautiful bill” this morning, disqualifying major Medicaid provisions from the megabill.
Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, who serves as the nonpartisan referee for the Senate’s bills, has been sifting through the GOP legislation to determine which provisions are compliant with the budget rules Republicans are using to bypass the 60-vote threshold.
OK, so what did she cut?: MacDonough rejected the proposal to limit states’ use of health care provider taxes to collect more federal Medicaid funding.
Why this is a big deal: This was a big moneymaker for the bill — it would have generated hundreds of billions of dollars in savings — and Republicans were counting on this revenue to offset other costs. Without this provision, it throws a huge wrench into how to pay for President Trump’s tax cuts.
*Cue Billy Mays* — but wait, there’s more: The parliamentarian rejected several other provisions to restrict Medicaid and Medicare coverage for immigrants who are not U.S. citizens. Details of the nixed provisions
Soo, uh, what happens now?: That’s what we’re all waiting to see. Republicans’ self-imposed deadline is just eight days away. This decision could force Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to reconsider bringing the bill up for a vote this week.
How are Republicans taking the news, you ask?: Well, this adds a major wrinkle to their plans — especially with the deadline in about a week.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) called for the Senate Parliamentarian “TO BE FIRED ASAP.” 🔎More on his critique
Could Thune just ignore this ruling?: Thune reaffirmed Thursday he *will not* overrule the Senate referee’s determination.
But let’s not forget that not all Senate Republicans are on board with these Medicaid cuts: Two GOP senators are a hard “no” on the bill — and a few are undecided because of the Medicaid cuts.
As I like to remind everyone: MacDonough is *not* determining what can become law. Her role as the nonpartisan referee is to decide what can be passed through reconciliation — the special procure that avoids a Democratic filibuster.
The Senate can still pass this language if they want, but they would need to do it with 60 “yes” votes. Republicans don’t have enough votes to do that on their own and Democrats don’t plan to help them.
📝 Running list of what the parliamentarian has rejected
➤ ALSO CHOPPED FROM THE BILL:
The parliamentarian rejected Republican language to restrict federal health care subsidies from going to abortion services.
Which states this provision would have affected the most: “The provision would have had an ‘outsized impact’ on states such as Connecticut, Michigan and New Mexico, where insurers now cover abortion services voluntarily but would have incentive to drop abortion coverage to become eligible for federal cost-sharing payment under the Republican proposal, according to a Commonwealth Fund analysis.” Read more
🏛️ THE SUPREME COURT
Tomorrow is going to be nuts:
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts announced today that all six remaining cases will be decided TOMORROW.
That includes birthright citizenship, age verification for porn sites, opt-outs for classroom discussion of LGBTQ issues and a case related to race in congressional redistricting. Expect lots of protesters outside the Supreme Court.
The biggest ruling today:
Planned Parenthood was delivered a gut punch today. The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that South Carolina is legally allowed to cut off Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood.
Keep in mind, this case is not about the legality of abortion access, but it’s about Medicaid funding. The case decided “whether a Medicaid beneficiary has the ‘right’ to pick their preferred health provider and sue if they can’t.”
From The Hill’s Nathaniel Weixel: “The ruling paves the way for the state to prevent Planned Parenthood from receiving funding through Medicaid. The ruling only applies to South Carolina, where abortion is already outlawed after six weeks of pregnancy, but could be a template for other states.” More on the case
Plus — we also got a ruling on DNA testing for a death row inmate: “The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a Texas death row inmate has the legal right to sue over the state’s laws governing DNA testing in a bid to test evidence he says would block his execution.” Read more on the case
➤ 10 YEARS AGO TODAY:
The Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage.
Related reads:
The Hill: 10 years after Obergefell, gay marriage faces growing threats
The Washington Post: Gay marriages have doubled in 10 years since Supreme Court ruling
The Hill: Supreme Court turns to backlog of transgender cases after Tennessee ban ruling
🎤 IN THE PENTAGON
To be a fly on the Pentagon’s wall:
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth held a rare Pentagon press conference this morning to defend the U.S. strikes on Iran — and to rip into the media’s coverage of the operation’s effectiveness. It was pretty contentious.
What is Hegseth’s frustration?: An internal report was leaked, preliminarily assessing the damage of the U.S.’s Iran strikes. The report suggests the military operation may have set Iran’s nuclear program back by a few months, but not decades as Trump has said.
Hegseth stressed the report is ‘preliminary’: “Whether it’s fake news CNN, MSNBC or The New York Times, there’s been fawning coverage of a preliminary assessment. It was preliminary — a day and a half after the actual strike — when it admits itself in writing that it requires weeks to accumulate the necessary data to make such an assessment.”
He also took a verbal shot at his old colleague: Hegseth attacked Jennifer Griffin, his former colleague at Fox News and longtime Pentagon reporter. “Jennifer, you’ve been about the worst. The one who misrepresents the most intentionally,” he told Griffin. She then defended herself. 📹 Watch the contentious back-and-forth
➤ WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT ‘SLEEPER CELL’ WARNINGS:
TThe Trump administration has warned there may be Iranian “sleeper cells” operating in the U.S. The Hill’s Miriam Waldvogel wrote a helpful explainer on sleeper cell threats.
COMING UP
The House and Senate are in. President Trump is in Washington. (All times EST)
Today: Closing arguments in the Sean “Diddy” Combs Details
1 p.m.: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt briefs reporters. 💻 Livestream
3 p.m.: First and last House votes. 📆Today’s agenda
4 p.m.: Trump participates in a “one, big, beautiful” event in the White House. 💻 Livestream
🐝 INTERNET BUZZ
🥥 Celebrate: Today is National Coconut Day and National Bomb Pop Day!
😅 It’s OK. No one heard the comment anyway, right?: NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte tried to clarify his comment from earlier this week when he referred to President Trump as “Daddy.” Oh, and by the way, the White House created a music video to “Daddy’s Home.” 📹 Watch
🎥 What do you think is the best movie since 2000?: The New York Times asked more than 500 influential directors, actors, etc., to vote for the best movies of the 21st century. 🎞️ Here’s the running list of the 100 best movies
👋 AND FINALLY…
If you ever wonder how people tell their dogs apart when they look incredibly similar, these huskies are doing a *great* job at showing us the difference.