MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The Senate worked throughout the evening and is still debating the sweeping Republican tax and spending bill.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
President Trump lobbied Republicans over the weekend and wants Congress to send him a bill by July 4. But GOP leaders have little room for error as they negotiate key issues right up until the final vote.
MARTIN: NPR congressional correspondent Deirdre Walsh is with us now to tell us more. Good morning, Deirdre.
DEIRDRE WALSH, BYLINE: Good morning, Michel.
MARTIN: So do leaders have the votes to get this bill over the finish line?
WALSH: You know, they're sounding confident, but they can only lose three votes, and two Republicans already voted no to start debate on this bill Saturday night. North Carolina Republican Thom Tillis was one of those. He's been warning that the fallout from the cuts to Medicaid in this package would mean shifting billions of dollars of costs to the states. And he said the president is flat-out wrong to back this bill.
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THOM TILLIS: But I'm telling the president that you have been misinformed. You supporting the Senate mark will hurt people who are eligible and qualified for Medicaid.
MARTIN: Well, speaking of Tillis, he made some news yesterday.
WALSH: He did. A day after President Trump blasted him on social media for opposing this bill and vowed to back a primary challenger to him, Tillis says he's not running for reelection next fall. His race was expected to be very competitive, but Tillis says his brand as a bipartisan lawmaker was essentially becoming an endangered species.
MARTIN: So I take it there are Republicans who are still considered undecided. What are they looking at as they weigh their votes?
WALSH: Right. There are a few. Conservatives like Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson, Florida Senator Rick Scott want deeper spending cuts, and they're pushing for an amendment later this morning to change how much the federal government pays for people covered under the Medicaid expansion program. That passed as part of the Affordable Care Act. Moderate Republicans, like Maine's Susan Collins and Alaska's Lisa Murkowski, really want to limit changes to Medicaid, ensure there are resources for rural hospitals in their states to treat patients. How those Republicans view the final version after these amendment votes later this morning and the cost of the bill will determine if it passes.
MARTIN: So how much does this overall package cost, and what are the key components?
WALSH: This is really a tax bill. It makes the tax cuts enacted in 2017 in President Trump's first term permanent. It adds some temporary tax breaks like no tax on tips, no tax on overtime. It also boosts spending for border enforcement, for the military, increases the debt ceiling by $5 trillion to avoid a default later this summer. But to offset all of those tax breaks, the legislation includes significant spending cuts. It cuts nutrition programs. It rolls back green energy tax breaks. But the bulk of these spending cuts - almost a trillion dollars' worth - come from changes to Medicaid. The Senate bill adds new work requirements for some enrolled in the program, changes the way states finance their Medicaid programs. And Congress' nonpartisan scorekeeper said yesterday this version of the bill adds $3.3 trillion to the deficit over the next decade, and almost 12 million Americans could lose their coverage.
MARTIN: So, let's say, if the Senate approves this bill, what is likely to happen in the House? Will the House pass it this week?
WALSH: It's going to be tough. You know, House Speaker Mike Johnson has a razor-thin margin. President Trump is going to put a lot of pressure on Republicans there to pass it. He's going to have to help the speaker lock in those votes.
MARTIN: That is NPR's Deirdre Walsh. Deirdre, thank you.
WALSH: Thanks, Michel. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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