An appearance by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) at a meeting with Republican senators reportedly did little to sway some naysayers who have no interest in passing the latest budget bill once in makes its way to the Senate floor.
According to a report from NOTUS, the House leader may have done more damage to the prospects of the bill passing, with multiple key senators indicating that cuts to Medicaid are still a nonstarter.
More troubling for Johnson is Donald Trump agrees with the recalcitrant lawmaker that Medicaid should be off limits.
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As the report notes, Trump reportedly warned far-right conservatives not to "f---" with the reconciliation bill, with NOTUS describing it as "a rough wake-up call."
As for the meeting, the report states, "As House Republicans inch closer to passing a reconciliation bill, Senate Republicans are looking at the legislation with a mix of fear and bewilderment," adding, "A number of Senate Republicans have expressed concerns about the Medicaid cuts and suggested those reductions could prevent them from supporting the reconciliation bill."
According to the report, there are three senators who are indicating they will not budge: Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine and Josh Hawley from Missouri with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) also leaning towards a thumbs down.
The led the report to note, "One of those four Republicans would have to budge. Otherwise, the Senate is going to send back a bill shorn of Medicaid cuts and dare House Republicans to hold up Trump’s agenda over it — something conservatives seem more than willing to do."
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