A conservative group advocating for an additional $313 billion reduction in federal Medicaid spending visited Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s office late Monday night to discuss the next steps following an amendment aimed at slowing Medicaid growth that appears likely to fail.
Senator Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who is leading the amendment to roll back Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, was seen walking with Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) towards Thune’s office.
Scott, Johnson, and Lee dismissed any suggestions about their intentions to move forward with President Trump’s “big beautiful bill” this past Saturday, instead focusing on negotiating commitments from Thune and Vice President Pence to support the proposed amendment.
Despite Scott’s strong belief that the amendment would succeed, it became clear on Monday that it would fall short of the necessary 50 votes, as several GOP senators indicated they would not back it.
West Virginia’s Governor, Senator Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), expressed skepticism about further cuts, arguing that the already expected reductions of over $900 billion were significant enough.
The judge cautioned that additional cuts to Medicaid could jeopardize the Republicans’ control in both the Senate and House.
“As long as we’re at it, it seems we’ve made our bed,” he commented on the current Medicaid spending cuts.
He also noted his concern about Scott’s plan to attract more state subscribers to Medicaid, which had previously expanded the program to secure a generous federal match.
“This is what keeps me up at night—maintaining our majority,” he added.
Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) also announced he would oppose Scott’s amendment, mentioning a conversation with Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe (R), who urged him not to support any further $313 billion cut impacting states like Missouri that expanded Medicaid.
The discussions dragged on for over 13 hours with a series of votes anticipated. The voting process felt lengthy, as GOP leaders awaited a significant ruling from the Senate and worked to secure support from holdout members.
Thune exited his office after about 40 minutes, telling reporters, “It’s a collaborative process, and we’re working together.”
