Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) on Thursday said he will not overrule the parliamentarian after she rejected key Medicaid provisions in the GOP’s tax and spending megabill, dealing a blow to Republicans’ plan to pay for tax cuts in the package.
“No. That would not be a good outcome for getting a bill done,” Thune told reporters at the Capitol.
Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough rejected a plan that would cap states’ ability to collect more federal Medicaid funding via healthcare care provider taxes. The move would have collected hundreds of billions in savings, which Republicans were relying on.
Thune says Republican leaders knew “it was going to be an interesting conversation” with the Senate’s referee about the provision, but believes there are actions members can take to find similar savings.
“These are … short-term setbacks,” he said. “Speed bumps, if you will. We’re focused on the goal.”
Thune added, “We were obviously trying to get as much in terms of savings as we could. We pushed hard to try and achieve that.”
A Senate GOP source familiar with the parliamentarian’s ruling on Medicaid eligibility and health care provider taxes said that Republicans will try to rework the provisions to keep them in the massive bill.
“There are things that we can do,” Thune said. “There are other ways of getting to that same outcome.”
Thune also was non-committal on his plan to hold a vote on Friday to kick off consideration on the floor.
“We’ll see,” he said, pointing to ongoing discussions with the parliamentarian amid other happenings. “We’ll see how it all lands.
