Senate Republicans now have less than three weeks to meet their leadership’s goal of passing the massive party-line big beautiful reconciliation bill before the July 4th recess scheduled to begin on June 28th. For that to stay on track, GOP senators would need to have the Finance Committee’s legislative text in hand by next Monday meaning the thorniest issues including SALT, Medicaid, clean-energy credits and key business tax breaks need to be hashed out this week. Among other issues, Senate Republicans want to substantially water down the House GOP deal that includes a $40,000 cap on deducting state-and-local taxes and New York House Republicans are warning they’ll tank the bill if that happens and are pushing for a meeting with key senators this week. Senate Republicans also risk picking a fight with House conservatives over the proposed rollback of clean-energy tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act. At least four GOP senators have raised concerns about the rapid phase-out of the credits. Senate Republicans are working on a plan involving slower phase-outs for credits, along with varied treatment based on energy type. While Senate Republicans have spent several weeks consulting with the parliamentarian about potential Byrd Rule issues, those questions will be formally litigated as legislative text starts to be released. It is expected this process will take around a week for the Finance portion alone. Other committees will release legislative text as soon as Tuesday, kicking off the Byrd process for another chunk. If everything goes to plan, during the week of June 23rd, floor action will take a few days from start to finish, plus a vote-a-rama. The unlimited period of amendment votes will be Democrats’ last chance to exact political gamesmanship on Republicans and GOP leaders will need to make sure none of the amendments are adopted on the floor. Then, the House will need at least a week to pass the Senate’s final bill. House Republican leaders will have no choice but to let the bill lay over for 72 hours prior to any vote.
For today, the Senate is expected to vote on Confirmation of Executive Calendar #49, David Fotouhi, of Virginia, to be Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Confirmation of Executive Calendar #112, Stephen Vaden, of Tennessee, to be Deputy Secretary of Agriculture and Confirmation Executive Calendar #117 Andrew Hughes, of Texas, to be Deputy Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
The House met at 12:00 P.M. for legislative business and is expected to take up H.R. 2096 – Protecting Our Nation’s Capital Emergency Act and H.R. 884 – To prohibit individuals who are not citizens of the United States from voting in elections in the District of Columbia and to repeal the Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2022.
