Changes the Senate might make to the House-passed Big, Beautiful Bill

What you need to know about possible changes Republican senators may make to The Big, Beautiful Bill

As House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said after the House passed the bill last week, "I encourage [senators] to remember that we have a very delicate equilibrium that we've reached on here, a lot of work went into this to find exactly the right balance." Johnson went on to say that he hoped GOP senators think of their work on the bill as part of a "team effort" and, thus, modify it as little as possible.

If any changes are made to the bill in the Senate, which seems inevitable, it will have to come back to the House and be passed there again.

Based on discussions with Senators and various published reports, here are the changes that could be coming to the House version of the bill:

Medicaid

A number of Senate Republicans, both moderate and conservative, have voiced concerns about the changes being proposed in the House bill, in that they would ultimately lead to current Medicaid recipients being kicked off the program and could make it harder for rural hospitals to stay open. Missouri Senator Josh Hawley has been particularly outspoken and has vowed to oppose the bill if it cuts Medicaid benefits.

Making tax breaks permanent

There are a number of tax breaks, some of them for businesses, that would expire after a few years. A number of Senators, including Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Oklahoma's James Lankford, want those to be made permanent. Doing so would add to the bill's cost, but Lankford and others believe that would ultimately be offset by the economic growth they would spur.

State and local tax (SALT) deduction

A handful of House Republicans from high-tax, blue states (New York, New Jersey, California) refused to vote for the bill unless the cap on how much taxpayers can deduct in state and local taxes on their federal returns was lifted. The House bill proposes increasing the cap from $10,000 to $40,000. No Senate Republicans represent these high-tax states, however, and so they don’t care for this and may try to strip it from the bill.

Clean energy tax breaks

The House bill would scrap tax credits for wind, solar and geothermal energy that Biden and Democrats passed in 2022, except in cases where the projects are ready to begin construction. A handful of senators have advised leader Thune they would prefer are more gradual phasing out of these credits, given the major investments some companies in both blue and red states have made in this area.

Deeper spending cuts

Some Republican senators are complaining that the cuts contained in the House bill are too modest: "wimpy and anemic," said Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) this past weekend. Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson has pledged not to vote for the bill unless it slashes federal spending to 2019 levels, and, according the Washington Post, "he warned that Trump would not be able to pressure him the way he leaned on House Republicans who wanted more aggressive spending cuts: “In the House, President Trump can threaten a primary,” Johnson — who’s not up for reelection until 2028 — told reporters. “Those guys want to keep their seats. I understand the pressure. You can’t pressure me that way.”

Byrd rule

Some changes could come from as an aspect of the reconciliation process that's unique to the Senate: the Byrd rule, named for former West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd. The rule is meant to make sure reconciliation, which prevents the use of filibusters in the Senate, is only used to pass budget-related measures. As Sen. Lankford explained recently, "it’s gotta be looked at by the [Senate] parliamentarian to evaluate, is this more budget or is this more policy? If it’s more policy than budget, it has to get kicked out in the Senate."

Those with Byrd rule experience believe there are several provisions that might need to go, including a moratorium on state regulations on artificial intelligence and a ban on courts enforcing contempt citations for ignoring injunctions or temporary restraining orders.