


Senate Republicans released updated text for President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act late Friday night as leadership raced to hold their first vote as soon as Saturday.
Shortly before midnight, the Senate Budget Committee unveiled 940 pages that account for the latest revisions to the sweeping bill, a hodge-podge of tax, border, and energy priorities. Republicans are still awaiting final rulings from the parliamentarian on the tax portion of the bill, but the text brings them one step closer to complying with the intricate rules of reconciliation, a filibuster-skirting budget process.
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The text also incorporates changes meant to win over holdouts in both the House and Senate, including a more generous state and local tax deduction and a delay to some Medicaid reforms.
Senate Republicans had telegraphed those changes leaving a Friday lunch meant to nail down the SALT language. Under the latest proposal, the cap would stay at $40,000 for five years, as negotiated in the House, before snapping back to $10,000, the current limit.
The updated legislation delays new limits on the Medicaid provider tax, which helps states pay for their share of the entitlement, by a year as well. Many conservatives criticize the use of the taxes as a way to inflate the federal government’s share of costs.
The text also revealed new compromises, including a $25 billion stabilization fund meant to blunt the impact of Medicaid changes on rural hospitals. The Senate Finance Committee had floated a $15 billion fund on Wednesday that was swiftly rejected by centrist members of the conference.
Those changes may not be enough to secure passage of the bill. With or without a rural hospital fund, Republicans were threatening to withhold their vote unless Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) reverted to the House language on the Medicaid provider tax. The Senate phases in a cap of 3.5% for expansion states, while the House passed a more modest freeze.
On Friday afternoon, Thune conceded he may not yet have the 50 votes needed to advance the megabill, but the text’s release allows him to stay on track for a Saturday test vote. If he is successful, the Senate would then debate the measure for at least 10 hours before a marathon voting session on amendments that would likely finish on Sunday.
SENATE BARRELS TOWARD ‘ASPIRATIONAL’ SATURDAY VOTE ON TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), a bill holdout with concerns over Medicaid, told the Washington Examiner she plans to offer amendments on the floor depending on where the final text lands, and other Republicans have indicated the same, teeing up what could be a series of tough votes for leadership to keep their delicate compromise intact.
Until then, Thune and his committee chairs are attempting to minimize disruption on the Senate floor, with rolling negotiations on the remaining sticking points. On Friday night, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), the chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, released an updated proposal to sell off public lands after complaints from the Montana delegation.