Senate Majority Chief John Thune (R-S.D.) on Thursday stated he won’t overrule the parliamentarian after she rejected key Medicaid provisions within the GOP’s tax and spending megabill, dealing a blow to Republicans’ plan to pay for tax cuts within the package deal.
“No. That may not be consequence for getting a invoice finished,” Thune informed reporters on the Capitol.
Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough rejected a plan that will cap states’ means to gather extra federal Medicaid funding by way of healthcare care supplier taxes. The transfer would have collected a whole lot of billions in financial savings, which Republicans have been counting on.
Thune says Republican leaders knew “it was going to be an interesting conversation” with the Senate’s referee concerning the provision, however believes there are actions members can take to seek out related financial savings.
“These are … short-term setbacks,” he said. “Velocity bumps, if you’ll. We’re targeted on the aim.”
Thune added, “We were obviously trying to get as much in terms of savings as we could. We pushed hard to try and achieve that.”
A Senate GOP supply accustomed to the parliamentarian’s ruling on Medicaid eligibility and well being care supplier taxes stated that Republicans will attempt to rework the provisions to maintain them within the large invoice.
“There are things that we can do,” Thune stated. “There are other ways of getting to that same outcome.”
Thune additionally was non-committal on his plan to carry a vote on Friday to kick off consideration on the ground.
“We’ll see,” he stated, pointing to ongoing discussions with the parliamentarian amid different happenings. “We’ll see the way it all lands.