Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said “No” Thursday when asked if he would overrule Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, who rejected key Medicaid provisions in the so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill.”
When reporters asked him about the matter, Thune said, “No. That would not be a good outcome for getting a bill done,” according to the Hill.
The outlet said 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.”
Several Republicans wanted the Senate to “sideline” MacDonough, prompting Thune’s response, according to Politico.
When speaking of trying to keep the provisions in the bill, Thune added that “There are things that we can do. There are other ways of getting to that same outcome.”
It is important to note Breitbart News reported on Thursday that, “The parliamentarian also struck down provisions that would bar the use of Medicaid funds for transgender healthcare services and to prevent illegal aliens from receiving Medicaid or CHIP healthcare coverage.”
“However, it remains possible that Senate Republicans could change the language of the Medicaid provider tax to be eligible in the Big Beautiful Bill,” the article stated.
Thune told the outlet over the weekend that Senate Republicans are focused on targeting “waste, fraud, and abuse” in Medicaid:
“And that’s what the President has wanted us to do, and we work closely with him and his team as we’ve gone through this process. But at the end of the day, we want to make sure that this doesn’t hurt beneficiaries,” Thune emphasized, blasting the narrative from the left.
“It doesn’t cut Medicaid. We are continuing to grow Medicaid. We’re just growing at a slower rate than what has been allowed for under the existing law, which, by the way, grew Medicaid in the last five years at 50 percent,” he said, explaining that this is not sustainable.
On Sunday, MacDonough ruled eight more provisions of the bill could not pass through the chamber without 60 votes, and on Monday she voided seven additional parts of the bill on the belief they violated reconciliation rules, per Breitbart News.
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