Axios Hill Leaders

June 11, 2025
Newsy edition tonight! 938 words, 3.5 minutes.
- 🔥 GOP warning shots
- 🥶 ICE funding war
- 💰 Schumer targets silencers
- ⚾️ GOP's hot bats
1 big thing: 🔥 GOP warning shots
House GOP leadership is pleading with the Senate to back off its plans to dramatically reshape the Trump budget bill, warning the whole bill could implode if their carefully negotiated deals are discarded at whim.
Why it matters: Senate Republicans are determined to put their mark on the "one big, beautiful bill." But the changes they're signaling would cross red lines for House GOP holdouts.
- "Change it 10%, but I think 30% is a lot," House Republican Conference Chair Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) told us in a wide-ranging interview today.
- McClain was responding to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who today talked about preserving just 60% or 70% of the House-passed legislative text.
- "I realize the Senate has to put their fingerprints on it," McClain told us. "Touch very lightly."
Driving the news: Senate Finance Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) laid out the changes he plans to make to his portion of the bill to fellow senators today.
- Atop his list: Bring the SALT cap down, and make the business tax cuts permanent. They're also looking at changes to renewable energy tax credits and the number on border security.
- If the Senate makes substantial changes, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune will be forced to go to conference and hammer out the differences in July, with the threat of a debt default hanging over negotiations.
- "I really don't think there's a huge appetite to go to conference because of the timing," McClain said.
Zoom out: "I happen to believe them when they say that," McClain told us about blue-state Republicans threatening to crash the entire bill if the $40,000 SALT deduction cap is lowered.
The big picture: House lawmakers want to move on a $9.4 billion rescissions package tomorrow.
- "If we can't pass this rescission package, we are really in trouble," she said.
- "I think we're going to pass it," she said, saying she expected more rescissions requests throughout the year.
— Hans Nichols and Stef Kight
2. 🥶 ICE funding wars

Incensed House Democrats are warming up to putting ICE on the 2026 ballot, with some threatening to use the appropriations process to force changes at the agency if they retake Congress.
Why it matters: Many Dems are scarred by GOP attacks on the #AbolishICE movement. But ICE-focused protests and grassroots pressure are making the party inch away from its defensive crouch on immigration.
- "[O]ur base is demanding more and more of us every day," said one House Democrat, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
- "A number of us have been told by constituents that we have to be willing to get shot" while trying to conduct oversight at ICE facilities and "be able to make news out of it," the lawmaker added.
Between the lines: Some progressives are eyeing actual funding cuts as moderate border hawks draw a bright red line in opposition to that idea.
- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) criticized "hypocrisy" among Democrats, "where folks want to campaign against ICE when we're in the minority, but then when we're in the majority, we continue to funnel unfettered funds with absolutely no guardrails."
- "Some of us would like to see it completely broken down. ... I've been talking about reducing funding," said Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.).
- Ramirez was clear-eyed that "you're not going to see an abolishing of ICE" even though "some of us might want that."
But centrist Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), a member of the Appropriations Committee, told us he is "sure there will be a push," but he "will not support reducing ICE" funding.
- House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told us: "We have to secure the border, we have to fix our broken immigration system, we want to do it in a comprehensive and bipartisan way, and we are going to defend DREAMers and farm workers and law-abiding individuals."
The bottom line: Congressional Hispanic Caucus chair Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) said he believes Democrats should "reassess the funding possibilities. Absolutely."
- He said of being denied access to an ICE facility this weekend: "They ask for money, right? And then ... I go there and they don't allow us to go and check out the facilities."
— Andrew Solender
3. 💰 Schumer targets silencers
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer will fight to strike a provision on gun silencers from the GOP's "big, beautiful bill."
Why it matters: The House-passed version of the bill doesn't just scrap a $200 tax on silencers. It also takes the more drastic step of removing silencers from the National Firearms Act altogether, wiping out federal registration requirements.
- Schumer will argue that going beyond a tax cut into changing a non-budgetary law violates Senate rules on budget reconciliation and should be tossed out of the package.
- He will rally gun violence victims and gun advocacy groups tomorrow to oppose the measure.
— Stephen Neukam
4. ⚾️ GOP'S hot bats

Democrats will try to stop the GOP's four-year winning streak tonight at the annual Congressional Baseball Game.
Why it matters: The games started in the early 1900s, with lawmakers sometimes competing against members of the press.
- It's been red vs. blue since 1962. In that time, Republicans have won 38 times and Democrats have won 23 times, according to stats kept by the House.
- There has been one tie, and the game was canceled in 2020 because of COVID-19 concerns.
⚾️ First pitch: 7pm ET, with Fox News' Kevin Corke and Chad Pergram calling the game.
— Stef Kight
This newsletter was edited by Justin Green and copy edited by Kathie Bozanich.
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