Trump goes up the Hill to push for big, beautiful bill

President Donald Trump came to Capitol Hill on Tuesday morning to tell House Republicans to put down their pencils on the president’s “one big, beautiful bill.” Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., chairman of the House Budget Committee, believes the president got his point across.

“He wants us to pass this bill this week,” Smith told me.

But divisions in the House of Representatives threaten the bill’s success. Republicans can afford to lose only three votes. GOP leaders plan to put the bill to a vote no later than Thursday despite disagreement over whether the package does enough to address the country’s spending levels.

The bill looks to create $3.5 trillion in spending cuts followed by $4 trillion in increases over 10 years. The package includes overhauls to the country’s border security programs, tax code, and more. While the vast majority of the bill’s provisions are written, a handful of details remain undecided as moderates and conservatives leverage their respective positions.

“They’re down to SALT and they’re down to Medicaid,” said Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.

The State and Local Tax dedication, often referred to as SALT, allows individuals to use the amount of taxes they pay at the state level to shrink the amount they owe to the federal government—but only up to a certain dollar amount. Under current law, taxpayers can deduct up to $10,000 of state-level obligations from their federal taxes. Republicans from states with high state taxes argue their constituents should be able to deduct more.

The bill would raise that cap to $30,000. But for some lawmakers like Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., that’s not good enough.

“Three of the four counties I represent are in the top 16 property tax counties in America. Between property taxes and income taxes, it blows well past the $30,000 cap,” Lawler told reporters after the meeting with Trump. “As I’ve said, that’s insufficient. We will continue the dialogue with leadership.”

On Medicaid, House Republicans have steered clear of the most controversial ideas for reform. Trump urged Republicans to root out waste, fraud, and abuse—but also to stay clear of any structural changes to the joint federal-state partnership that provides healthcare for low-income Americans, seniors, and individuals with disabilities.

Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., is chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said the bill doesn’t yet fulfill Trump’s Medicaid mandate.

“In its current form, I can’t support the bill [because] it does not eliminate waste fraud and abuse in Medicaid,” Harris said. “The president has called for waste fraud and abuse to be eliminated, and I don’t think that’s where the bill sits.”

Harris mentioned the bill should go farther to eliminate provider taxes, the practice by which states increase taxes on their own medical providers to secure federal dollars. Under current law, the federal government has agreed to put up at least one dollar for every dollar the states raise on their own for Medicaid. That has led some states to increase taxes, gain federal funding, then return the initial taxes to their medical providers.

Members had varying views on whether the president’s address had its intended effect. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., told reporters that his mind is made up—especially because Trump’s 2017 tax cuts would expire at the end of the year without this bill’s passage.

“The question is, is this legislation better than the status quo? The status quo being a huge tax increase. The answer to that is yes. … There is no doubt that the president is totally supportive of this bill,” Diaz-Balart said.

Others, including Massie, believe that the bill does not do enough to combat spending.

“I don’t think he wants to talk about spending,” Massie said, referring to Trump. “I’m a no.”

When asked if the bill reduces deficits, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said members should support it because of what the alternative would mean.

“If you vote no, you’re voting against reducing waste, fraud, and abuse which means that the deficit would be higher,” Scalise said. “This bill does not add to the deficit.”

The Congressional Budget Office has yet to release its findings on the cost of the bill.

Before bringing the bill to the floor, the legislation must first clear the House Rules Committee, the body that sets the parameters for which pieces of legislation reach the floor for consideration. The committee will convene at 1 a.m. on Wednesday to review the bill.