By Siobhan Hughes

WASHINGTON -- Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) is trying to release this week a revised version of President Trump's "big, beautiful bill."

But as he races to pass the legislation ahead of Republicans' self-imposed July 4 deadline, he has got about as many problems as there are GOP senators, with lawmakers battling over the additional borrowing and spending cuts that will be used to finance tax relief, plus spending on the border and military.

The House in May passed its own version by a one-vote margin, and Trump has urged the Senate to move the multitrillion-dollar bill quickly. But GOP senators want changes, and lawmakers disagree over the depth of cuts to Medicaid, clean-energy tax credits and nutrition assistance, with some seeking to protect their own states' interests and others accusing colleagues of not taking federal deficits seriously.

"Everyone is just pulling this Gumby in lots of different directions," said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R., Alaska). "We are not, I think, resolved as a conference as to what that bill looks like."

Republicans have a 53-47 majority in the Senate, and a similarly slim 220-212 edge in the House, meaning any small group of holdouts -- working together or separately -- can derail the bill.

If the Senate passes its revised version, the House would then need to sign off on it too before sending it to Trump's desk. Senators largely dismissed speculation that billionaire Elon Musk's staunch opposition to the bill's deficit spending would have an impact -- particularly after his falling out with Trump last week -- though he could strengthen the backbone of some deficit hawks in the House.

Thune said that Republicans would grind through their differences. "We are going to get this done one way or the other," he said.

1,000 pages, many disagreements

The many movable pieces of the more than 1,000-page legislation are forcing Republicans to think through difficult trade-offs. The House bill would add a net $2.4 trillion to the deficit over a decade, the Congressional Budget Office estimated -- on top of the $21.4 trillion in deficits already forecast through 2034.

To limit deficit impacts while still making good on Trump's promise to extend his 2017 tax cuts and add new plans such as "no tax on tips," the proposal slashes federal support for health, food and education programs, shifting more of the burden to states. Democrats decry the cuts, and some Republicans have problems with them too.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R., Ala.), who is running for governor in 2026, plans to meet this week with other lawmakers concerned about a provision that would force states to, for the first time, pay part of the tab for food benefits for low-income families. States would have to pay at least 5% of the cost.

"You can't overload the states with what's supposed to be federally funded -- we can't afford it," he said.

Republicans have fractured over proposed cuts to Medicaid, the state-federal program that provides health insurance to more than 70 million low-income and disabled people. Among other things, the House-passed bill would impose more frequent eligibility checks and, starting at the end of 2026, work requirements on low-income, able-bodied adults. The work requirements alone would increase the number of people without health insurance by 4.8 million in 2034, the CBO said.

GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said she can live with work requirements tailored to those truly able to work. But she is worried about a provision limiting the taxes states impose on Medicaid providers like hospitals as a way to increase federal matching contributions.

"I am looking at the way the provider tax would work, and what the impact would be on rural hospitals, which are teetering in my state," she said.

Other Republicans say Medicaid is riddled with abuse. Critics include Sen. Rick Scott (R., Fla.), whose state is among 10 that didn't expand Medicaid to the low-income, childless, able-bodied adults who gained coverage under Democrats' 2010 Affordable Care Act. He said that the federal government's 90% matching rate for the expansion population -- compared with a floor of 50% for other beneficiaries -- had the perverse effect of helping childless adults over needier groups.

"This idea that we pay more money for an able-bodied adult than we do for a poor kid, from the federal government, makes no sense," he said. "I believe we're going to change it."

What about deficits?

Scott is among a clutch of fiscal hawks who say the bill isn't serious enough about tackling budget deficits.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R., Wis.) also wants deeper cuts. He told Trump so at a White House meeting last week, and said he still hasn't been able to find his way to "yes."

"I want to see him succeed; I really don't want to make his life, his job, more difficult," Johnson told reporters last week, indicating he was casting about for ways to satisfy his own concerns. "I don't want to be a negative influence."

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R., La.), a physician, is trying to win support for saving money by targeting Medicare Advantage insurers' practices of adding extra diagnoses. The idea has bipartisan support, but it isn't clear that Republicans will be inclined to change -- in any way -- the politically sensitive health program serving seniors.

Sen. Steve Daines (R., Mont.) is demanding permanent deductions for investments in equipment and other business costs. The House version would allow immediate expensing only through 2029.

"It's a red line for me -- I'll vote against the bill if it's not made permanent," Daines said.

Sen. John Curtis (R., Utah) said the House bill moved too quickly to unwind tax credits contained in Democrats' 2022 Inflation Reduction Act for investment in and production of clean energy. One company whose expansion plans would be thwarted: Fervo Energy, which is building what it says is the world's largest enhanced geothermal project in Utah.

Sen. Mike Lee (R., Utah) and many other Republicans blistered a provision to set at $40,000 the cap on state and local tax deductions, up from $10,000 in current law -- a change that benefits residents of high-tax states such as New York and California. Dialing that back in the Senate would draw blowback when the bill returns to the House.

"To disrupt the $40,000 negotiated compromise in the House is to put the entire bill in jeopardy," said Rep. Nick LaLota (R., N.Y.).

Write to Siobhan Hughes at Siobhan.hughes@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 08, 2025 21:00 ET (01:00 GMT)

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