June is going to be a big month politically for President Donald Trump.
You see, in May, the House of Representatives passed his one "big, beautiful bill," and now the debate heads to the other side of the Capitol, the Senate, where leadership have said they want the legislation on Trump’s desk by July 4th.
Not every Senate Republican, however, agrees with what the House passed.
Why you should care
Let's remind you why you should care about the "big, beautiful bill" being debated in Congress. For one, it does a lot.
It impacts taxes and how much you’ll pay for the next several years. It impacts Medicaid coverage and what must be done to qualify. It also impacts funding for the southern border and military spending to defend the us from attacks, as well as energy, repealing renewable energy tax credits meant to address climate change.
So why do some Senate republicans have issues with the bill?
Sens. Rick Scott, Mike Lee, Rand Paul and Ron Johnson have all expressed at least some concern over the cost, which would add trillions of dollars to the deficit over the next 10 years, according to nonpartisan outside groups.
“We have to show the Republicans that elected us that we are serious about reducing spending,” Sen. Johnson recently told Scripps News.
Sens. Susan Collins, Josh Hawley, Lisa Murkowski, Jerry Moran and Jim Justice have all shared some worry that the House-passed bill changes too much with Medicaid funding. Some have also expressed concern about new work requirements.
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri may be the one to watch on this issue. He wrote a piece in the New York Times in May simply titled "Don't cut Medicaid." Then on social media this week he wrote, “Just had a great talk with President Trump about the Big, Beautiful Bill. He said again, NO MEDICAID BENEFIT CUTS."
A third group including Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Thom Tillis, John Curtis and Jerry Moran have all expressed skepticism over scaling back clean energy credits.
What's next?
President Trump was able to successfully lobby enough House Republicans to pass his bill, and now that lobbying effort begins in the Senate, an effort that includes social media. He has already attacked Sen. Paul over his opposition.
“Rand votes NO on everything, but never has any practical or constructive ideas," the president stated.
Sen. Paul talked about his conversations with the president to reporters on Capitol Hill.
“He did most of the talking,” he said. “This will be the largest debt ceiling increase ever in our history.”
Senate Democrats, meanwhile, continue to speak out against what they are calling "one, big ugly bill." However, President Trump doesn’t need any of them to pass it.
The current party breakdown in the Senate is 53 Republicans and 47 Democrats. President Trump can still pass it if 50 senators back it because Vice President JD Vance would break the tie.
However, if four Republicans side with Democrats, that would defeat the bill.
