AILSA CHANG, HOST:
After a marathon overnight session, Senate Republicans narrowly passed their sweeping tax and spending bill today. Senate Majority Leader John Thune called it a historic day for the country.
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JOHN THUNE: They're very excited to be a part of something that is going to make America stronger, safer and more prosperous.
CHANG: NPR congressional correspondent Deirdre Walsh joins us now from the capital. Hi, Deirdre.
DEIRDRE WALSH, BYLINE: Hi, Ailsa.
CHANG: OK, so after all the negotiation, how did Republican leaders finally manage to get this bill through?
WALSH: It was a real squeaker. Vice President JD Vance had to come up and break the tie. With their 53-seat majority, Republican leaders could only afford to lose three votes, and they did. Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Thom Tillis of North Carolina all voted no. There was just immense political pressure from President Trump and from the Republican base on lawmakers to get this done. This represents the president's domestic agenda. The president also created this political deadline to get it done by July 4. It's not really a real deadline, but it just acted as a forcing mechanism.
CHANG: OK. Well, talk about the key components of this bill. Like, what's in there exactly?
WALSH: You know, tax cuts are really the heart of this bill. The 2017 Trump tax cuts that are going to expire at the end of this year are now made permanent as part of this package. It also adds some new temporary tax breaks, like no tax on tips, no tax on overtime. The bill includes an infusion of billions of dollars for border enforcement, for the military. And to offset the cost of those tax cuts, there are spending cuts to a big range of programs.
For example, Republicans rolled back green energy tax breaks. They cut nutrition programs. But in the end, the deciding vote really hinged on the issue of Medicaid. Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski raised concerns about the cuts to that health care program for low-income, disabled and elderly Americans. In the bill, there are nearly $1 trillion of cuts to Medicaid. It adds new work requirements and changes the way states pay for the programs, and it would shift cost to the states. But Murkowski ultimately voted yes.
CHANG: Wait, but how? Because, I mean, she had so many issues with this bill. How did they get Murkowski on board finally?
WALSH: They gave her something she asked for. She wanted more money and a special fund set aside to help rural hospitals. It doubled and went from 25 billion to 50 billion over five years. They also made some changes to the work requirements, added to nutrition programs. Murkowski told reporters this was an agonizing decision. She didn't like the bill, but she felt like the only other option was to kill it, and she supported the tax cuts.
LISA MURKOWSKI: I needed help. And I worked to get that every single day. And did I get everything that I wanted? Absolutely not.
WALSH: Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, who complained about the spending in the bill, really directly criticized Murkowski today.
RAND PAUL: Well, the bill got more expensive to get her vote. There had to be a purchasing of her vote, and so there was billions and billions of dollars given to her.
WALSH: But Murkowski pushed back at Senator Paul, said she was working to represent Alaskans.
CHANG: OK, so now this bill bounces over to the House. I mean, do you think they will be able to pass it by President Trump's July 4 deadline at this point?
WALSH: You know, I think it's going to be another squeaker in the House. Several House Republicans are complaining about the changes in the Senate. Conservatives don't like that the Senate bill is more expensive than the version that they passed. Moderates don't like the steeper Medicaid cuts in this package. But again, there is going to be huge pressure on House Republicans to get this done tomorrow.
Any wavering Republican can just look at what happened to Senator Tillis. He came out against the Senate bill, and the president lashed out on him, attacked him and vowed to support a primary challenger. Tillis decided the next day not to run for reelection. Just like the Senate, House Speaker Mike Johnson can only afford to lose three votes. I would expect the president will be lobbying a lot of members, and again, it's going to be close.
CHANG: That is NPR's Deirdre Walsh. Thank you, Deirdre.
WALSH: Thanks, Ailsa. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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