Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Republicans pushed their version of the reconciliation bill through a bitterly divided Senate Tuesday, giving a fragile but decisive victory to a package of Medicaid cuts, phased-out energy tax credits and a reauthorization of the FCC's spectrum auction authority.
The big picture: The passage puts the legislation on track to reach President Trump's desk by July 4, if the House can swallow the Senate's numerous changes — a path that will be perilously narrow given all of the GOP divisions that were on display in the Senate.
- The vote was 51-50, with Vice President JD Vance breaking the tie and Republicans Susan Collins, Rand Paul and Thom Tillis voting with Democrats against the package.
- GOP leaders spent hours overnight trying to nail down enough votes to get the bill across the finish line.
- We've told you about the projected impact on the uninsured from the Senate's deeper Medicaid cuts, the harsher cutoff of energy tax credits and the road to an AI compromise that fell apart at the last minute.
The other side: Some GOP lawmakers joined with Democrats on overnight amendments to soften the IRA cuts.
- Collins voted for John Hickenlooper's failed amendment to soften the phaseout of the 25D residential clean energy credit — highly sought by the rooftop solar industry.
- Collins and Lisa Murkowski voted for Jeanne Shaheen's failed amendment seeking to reverse Republicans' repeal of tax credits for energy saving home improvements and new home construction.
What we're watching: There will be a lot of complaints from House Republicans, especially on the impact of the Senate's version of the Medicaid cuts.
- But it's hard to see the House defeating a bill this late in the process when President Trump wants it so badly.
- So we're watching to see if any other policy promises are made to win enough votes to clear the bill by the end of the week.
Read more on Axios.com.
