He's a terrific argument for term limits afer warming his Senate seat for 40 years.
Musk comes out swinging against the bill again; so does Sen. Tillis. Resistance hardening in the House? And the vote-a-rama continues with Thune scrambling to avoid more defections.
March 11, 2025: “The Trump Administration will not cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits. President Trump himself has said it (over and over and over again).” — The White House
June 30, 2025: The Senate is scheduled to vote today to cut over a trillion dollars from Medicaid, kicking off 16 million recipients in total.1
Click for live updates or for the latest contents of the bill, or watch live on C-Span.
After a weekend of stalking and balking, it looks like the Senate still won’t vote on their tax cut for the rich budget bill until tomorrow, still attempting to meet a self-imposed deadline to get the bill to Trump so he can flash his signature2 triumphantly this Friday, July 4. (Here’s why I care.3)
If you wonder why I care about this thing, it’s because I’ve been in women’s and children’s health for my entire lifetime—and if there’s anything that gets shoved to the bottom time after time, it’s healthcare for those two groups. For instance,
If you don’t like this hot mess, contact your senator here and your US representative here NOW. Wednesday may be too late.
As of Monday evening, June 30, the very short version4:
Remember, Thune originally thought this would go to a floor vote on Sunday. Now he’s saying tomorrow (Tuesday), meaning the hold-outs are giving him pain during the political waterboarding event known as vote-a-rama.
There appears to possibly be more grumbling in the House: “How did it get so much f- - - ing worse?”
Musk, who says the bill is political suicide for Republicans, showed up again today threatening to primary anyone who votes for the bill “if it’s the last thing I do” and calling for a new political party.
The Senate’s version of the budget bill was more machiavellian than the House version even before a surprise attack Saturday night by Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL)5 added even more Medicaid cuts.
The bill would cause the national debt to soar even more than previous estimates, according to projections released Sunday. The CBO today reported it would raise the national debt by $3.3 trillion over 10 years (while also raising the debt limit by $5T, so they’re not done). That $3T+ doesn’t include increased borrowing costs, substantial because the measure—even after draconian cuts—is largely deficit-financed. We already pay more on national debt interest than for defense. We and particularly our kids will pay with increased interest rates on mortgages, car loans, college loans and on and on.
The Senate is pushing all the virtue signaling and theatrics you’d expect. One goal is to move too fast to let the CBO or Parliamentarian catch up.
Since the latest version of the budget is increasingly unlikely to meet the Senate’s rules for reconciliation—the method Republicans are using so the bill only requires 51 votes, not the 60 from regular processes—Trump is now encouraging the Senate to ignore the parliamentarian, the non-partisan referee on reconciliation rules. That would ignore the Senate’s own rules. with Daddy’s go-ahead, Sen. Majority Leader Thune (R-SD) now expresses support for that. Earlier this week he ruled out overruling the parliamentarian; that was then. It’s easier to slide in now in the midst of the general uproar.
Lindsey’s Magic Eraser: The biggest trick of all, discussed since at least April, is now finally surfacing over Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) demand to simply erase the $3T+ cost of this tax cut6. No cost—FREE!! What could be better?
Rs in both the Senate and the House do understand that history is not kind to those who mess with healthcare. Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) notes this bill is very likely to become a political albatross for Rs. Even Daddy muttered some caution yesterday.
Rs can only afford to lose three votes in the Senate, and three in the House, and passage in neither is a done deal as of now, with legislators in both the Senate7 and House fairly worked up. But you know how Daddy works …
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) was one of two senators to vote no on sending the bill to the floor. Trump promptly promised to primary him. Tillis responded with “hold my beer, I’m outta here,” blasting Trump for breaking his promise to not touch Medicaid. NC is a purple state, with residents and hospitals that will be deeply negatively affected by Medicaid cuts; Rs may be very sorry to lose Tillis, a sure winner in the past.
While you’ll hear Republicans telling you how the public is madly in favor of this bill, polls—even Fox’s—consistently show 2:1 opposed, and Trump’s approval rating continues its plummet into the canyons of poll hell. New polls today show the bill has a net favorable rating somewhere between negative 19 and negative 29 points.
Assuming the bill passes in the Senate, it will then go back to the House for a final vote there for more drama; Speaker Johnson has called his troops to return on Wednesday.
Onward. Good night and good luck.8
That includes 12 million directly from the bill, and at least another 4 million indirectly from making ACA enrollment much more difficult and cutting funding for that as well.
Here’s what a British graphologist says about Trump’s character as revealed by his signature.
I’ve been in women and children’s health my entire lifetime—and if there’s anything Republicans in particular have consistently been hell-bent on decimating, it’s the healthcare for those two groups. Example: Half US births are covered by Medicaid, and children and the elderly—particularly in rural areas—are also disproportionatelycovered Medicaid. So that’s who will be hurt when this bill kicks another 16 million off Medicaid, increasing the uninsured by at least 60%. And that’s why I care about this mess.
When Scott was CEO of Columbia/HCA, he led the company to the largest ever Medicare/Medicaid tax fraud penalty at the time. Crime pays; his $10M bonus at the time helped propel his net worth to over a quarter billion dollars by 2018. Who could possibly be more in touch with the common man?
Graham is another great argument for term limits: 32 years in the House and Senate. He knows every trick in the books.
Susan Collins (R-ME) is full bore into her usual pearl clutching and waffling. Maine is a state full of strong people: How can they stand this ditz?
As Edward R. Murrow closed his broadcasts at dark time—WWII—to which 2025 is being compared.