The U.S. Senate is close to a final vote on the budget reconciliation bill. It’s unlikely to gain support from Connecticut and New York’s four Democratic Senators.
Late Saturday night, the Senate narrowly voted to advance the bill to the floor for debate. The body is expected to go through amendment votes and debates before it calls a final vote on the legislation, which could happen as early as Monday evening.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) delayed debate by 16 hours by forcing a full reading of the 940-page bill.
“The more and more that Americans look at the bill, the less they like it,” Schumer said. “Here [is] the polling data: Quinnipiac, 53% against, only 27% support. Fox News, 59% against, 38% support. Kaiser Family Foundation, 64% against, only 35% support.”
The bill includes many of President Donald Trump’s priorities, including making his 2017-era tax cuts permanent, changing Medicaid eligibility and removing taxes on tips.
“The House of Representatives must be ready to send it to my desk before July 4th, and we can get it done. It will be a wonderful celebration for our country, which is right now, ‘the hottest country in the world,’” Trump said in a post on social media.
New estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office say the bill would kick nearly 12 million people off their health care by 2034, with other estimates being higher. Trump and Republican leaders have denied that “eligible people” will lose Medicaid coverage.
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) has been one of the loudest critics of the bill — and of his Republican colleagues. He has repeatedly said the bill is stealing from the poor to fund tax cuts for the wealthy.
According to Murphy, 120,000 people in his state stand to lose coverage through Medicare, and 50,000 will lose coverage from the Affordable Care Act.
“Behind closed doors, they talk about it,” Murphy said. “When the cameras are on, they pretend that, ‘Oh we're just focusing on waste and fraud, you know, nobody's gonna really lose their health care.’ But behind closed doors, they're stating what is true. If they pass this bill, they are going to create misery in this country.”
The CBO also estimates the bill would add more than $3.3 trillion to budget deficits.
The bill isn’t a done deal in the Senate yet. Some Republican members are holding out on certain policy issues. For example, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) wants fewer cuts to Medicaid, while more Conservatives want deeper cuts to lessen the impact of the deficit.
Blue-state House Republicans — like Long Island Representatives Nick LaLota and Andrew Garbarino — are pushing their Senate colleagues to maintain the increased $40,000 state and local tax deduction they negotiated.
Under the current Senate proposal, that increase would expire in 2029, returning the SALT cap to $10,000. SALT has been a major sticking point for high-tax states like New York, where taxpayers reduce their federal tax burden by the amount they pay in state and local taxes.
If the bill passes the Senate, it goes back to the House for another vote, facing an uphill battle, too.
Then, it goes to President Trump for final approval.
Desiree D’Iorio contributed reporting to this story.
