WASHINGTON — Republicans faced another obstacle to passing President Trump’s “big beautiful bill” Thursday after the Senate parliamentarian ruled that several health care spending reforms would need 60 votes to pass rather than the 51 sought by the GOP — likely preventing hundreds of billions of dollars in potential savings.

Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough determined that some of the megabill’s Medicaid provisions — including changes to federal funding for US states’ share of health care provider taxes — were not eligible for approval via the simple-majority gambit, known as reconciliation.

Other axed provisions eliminated some Medicaid eligibility for non-citizen adults and children and lowered Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) funding percentages for states that let non-citizens obtain health care coverage from 90% to 80%.

Still another section that failed to pass muster with MacDonough blocked federal funding for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to provide gender-transition medical care.

3 Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough determined some of the megabill’s Medicaid provisions can’t pass by a simple majority because they violated the Byrd Rule. via REUTERS

“The WOKE Senate Parliamentarian, who was appointed by Harry Reid and advised Al Gore, just STRUCK DOWN a provision BANNING illegals from stealing Medicaid from American citizens,” erupted Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.). “This is a perfect example of why Americans hate THE SWAMP.”

“Unelected bureaucrats think they know better than U.S. Congressmen who are elected BY THE PEOPLE,” he added. “Her job is not to push a woke agenda. THE SENATE PARLIAMENTARIAN SHOULD BE FIRED ASAP.”

“How is it that an unelected swamp bureaucrat, who was appointed by Harry Reid over a decade ago, gets to decide what can and cannot go in President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill?” griped Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.).

“It is time for our elected leaders to take back control. [Vice President JD Vance] should overrule the Parliamentarian and let the will of the people, not some staffer hiding behind Senate procedure, determine the future of this country.”

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) determined that the House-passed version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which the Senate has been revising, would add up to $3 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade.

House Republicans had previously boasted that as much as $1.6 trillion in spending cuts were included in their version of the tax-and-spending package.

3 Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has indicated in the past that overruling the parliamentarian would be tantamount to abolishing the 60-vote filibuster. AP

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) described MacDonough’s ruling as a “speed bump” in the bill’s progress, as the White House ups its pressure on Republicans in Congress to pass the bill quickly.

“We expect that bill to be on the president’s desk for signature by July 4th,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at her Thursday briefing.

Thune, 64, has indicated in the past that ignoring the parliamentarian would be tantamount to abolishing the 60-vote filibuster, a feature that sets the upper chamber apart from the lower and provides a check for the party out of power.

Vance, though president of the Senate, can’t overrule the parliamentarian’s decision outright either. Such an action would need 60 votes, an impossible outcome with the chamber currently split 53-47 in Republicans’ favor.

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), the top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee, celebrated the ruling in a statement, sharing other provisions that had been struck down by the upper chamber’s referee.

“Democrats are continuing to make the case against every provision in this Big, Beautiful Betrayal of a bill that violates Senate rules and hurts families and workers,” Merkley said.

3 Republicans are balking at the Senate parliamentarian’s decision on Thursday to scrap several health care spending reforms tucked into President Trump’s “big beautiful bill.” AP

“Democrats are fighting back against Republicans’ plans to gut Medicaid, dismantle the Affordable Care Act, and kick kids, veterans, seniors, and folks with disabilities off of their health insurance — all to fund tax breaks for billionaires.”

Reconciliation legislation is subject to parliamentary scrutiny under the so-called “Byrd Rule” — named for former Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd (D-WV) — which requires bills to focus strictly on fiscal issues.

WASHINGTON — Republicans suffered a blow Thursday after the Senate referee ruled that a series of health care cuts and savings in their sweeping domestic policy bill are ineligible for the party-line path they’re using to get around the chamber’s 60-vote threshold.

Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, who adjudicates procedural disputes between the two parties, has disqualified several provisions, including Medicaid rules prohibiting funds without verification of immigration status, reimbursement changes to contracts with pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), provider tax restrictions aimed at saving federal dollars, and new limitations surrounding eligibility for Affordable Care Act funding.

The disqualified provisions total from $200 billion to $300 billion in savings over a decade, said Matthew Fiedler, an expert in health care policy and economics at the Brookings Institution.

That’s a problem for Republicans, who are aiming to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill for President Donald Trump’s agenda through the Senate in the coming days. The House-passed version of the legislation was already projected to add $2.4 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years, and additional red ink could make Republicans even more nervous about voting for the final product.

“Everything is challenging, but they’re all speed bumps,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters Thursday. “And we have contingency plans — plan B, and plan C, we’ll continue to litigate it.”

Thune also admitted that the goal of starting votes on the bill Friday was “still an open question.” Republican leaders are hoping to send the legislation to Trump’s desk by July Fourth.

“What the parliamentarian did — that was a little bit of a hand grenade,” said Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., who has criticized the bill for increasing the debt.

But while the rulings could set back the timing of Senate votes on the bill, Republican aides maintained that they aren’t fatal to the overall bill. In some cases, they indicated they will return to the drawing board and reword the problematic provisions to comply with budget limitations, most notably on the Medicaid provider tax. In other cases, they will accept the outcome of the revoked provisions, which is a normal part of these party-line bills.

Republicans are using the “budget reconciliation” process so they can pass the bill in the Senate with a simple majority, cutting Democrats out of the process and avoiding a filibuster. But only certain types of bills are eligible for this process.

And it’s not all bad news for Republicans from the parliamentarian: The new work requirements for able-bodied adults to access Medicaid were deemed compliant with Senate rules. Those provided the largest share of the health care spending cuts in the legislation.

Democrats said they were relieved by the ruling on the provider tax, a provision that some members of both parties worry will create pain for hospitals.

“The provider tax is devastating to our hospitals, particularly our rural hospitals, and so I’m glad it’s gone,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters. “But we tell the Republicans, and for the sake of our health care system, don’t come up with something just as bad or worse.”

The decisions by MacDonough add to a lingering list of disputes that Republicans must resolve. The fate of Medicaid continues to be a thorny subject for many GOP lawmakers. House conservatives like Reps. Andy Harris, R-Md., and Chip Roy, R-Texas, are threatening to torpedo the revised bill for softening the House’s clean energy funding cuts. And an expansion of the cap on state and local tax deduction, or “SALT,” remains a red line for blue-state House Republicans, while GOP senators don’t care for it.

Some conservatives lashed out at MacDonough, calling for her to either be overruled by senators or fired by Thune.

“The WOKE Senate Parliamentarian, who was appointed by Harry Reid and advised Al Gore, just STRUCK DOWN a provision BANNING illegals from stealing Medicaid from American citizens,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., wrote on X. “This is a perfect example of why Americans hate THE SWAMP.”

“THE SENATE PARLIAMENTARIAN SHOULD BE FIRED ASAP,” he said.

MacDonough was appointed by then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., in 2012 and is well respected by leaders on both sides of the aisle. But Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., also said MacDonough needs to go and called for term limits for parliamentarians.

“She’s been here since 2012; she has a lot of power,” Marshall told reporters. “I don’t think anyone should stay here that long and have power where she doesn’t answer to anybody.”

Thune wouldn’t directly answer if he was open to firing her. He suggested Republicans knew the parliamentarian could rule that some provisions in their bill didn’t comply with Senate reconciliation rules.

“We’re pushing the edge of the envelope, trying to get as much done as we can,” Thune said.

Thune and a handful of other GOP senators — including Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy of Louisiana — said they oppose overruling MacDonough, meaning there are currently not the votes to do so given the GOP’s narrow 53-47 majority.

And Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, the chair of the Appropriations Committee, pushed back against Tuberville and other Republicans calling for MacDonough to be ousted. The parliamentarian has rankled both parties in the past: In 2021, she ruled against Democrats’ provision hiking the minimum wage to $15 in then-President Joe Biden’s Covid relief package.

“I totally disagree” that the parliamentarian should be fired, Collins told reporters. “What comes around goes around when it comes to the parliamentarian. She may rule a way you like one day, the way you don’t the next. She has a job to do.”

Meanwhile, Democrats say they will keep challenging the provisions in the legislation under Senate rules, depicting the cuts as a way to pay for “tax breaks for billionaires.”

“Democrats are continuing to make the case against every provision in this Big, Beautiful Betrayal of a bill that violates Senate rules and hurts families and workers,” Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., the ranking member of the Budget Committee, said in a statement.

She wasn’t elected and she doesn’t cast votes. But over the past week, Elizabeth MacDonough, the quietly powerful Senate parliamentarian, may have had more influence over Donald Trump’s legislative agenda than anyone else in Washington. After meeting with Republicans and Democrats behind closed doors, MacDonough in recent days has significantly shrunk the size of the President’s sweeping tax and spending package known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill” by striking several measures that violated an arcane, decades-old Senate rule known as the Byrd Rule, which prohibits provisions that are viewed as “extraneous” to the federal budget in the kind of legislation Republicans are trying to craft.

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The parliamentarian delivered her biggest setback for Republicans on June 26, when she ruled that a controversial measure to hold down Medicaid costs by cracking down on a state provider tax violated the Byrd Rule and needed to be cut. The decision stands to undo hundreds of billions in expected savings that Republican leaders now hope to find elsewhere. It was just the latest in a series of parliamentarian rulings that have left Republicans scrambling. MacDonough could issue additional guidance this week. The spate of rulings from the Senate parliamentarian, an official appointed by the chamber’s leaders to enforce its rules and precedents, has significantly complicated the prospects of passing Trump’s tax and spending bill by the July 4 deadline he imposed on Congress. Republicans have been scrambling for months to secure enough votes for Trump’s megabill, which centers on extending his 2017 tax cuts and delivering on several of his campaign promises, such as boosting border security spending and eliminating taxes on tips. Support for the package has softened this month as more Republicans warn that it would add trillions of dollars to the deficit without further spending cuts.

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“These are speed bumps along the way,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters on June 26. “We anticipated those and so we have contingency plans. Obviously, you have to adjust the timing and schedule a little bit, but we’re moving forward.” The parliamentarian’s latest rulings will force Republicans to either strip those provisions from the bill or secure a 60-vote supermajority to keep them in, a nearly impossible hurdle given that Senate Republicans only hold 53 seats. MacDonough ruled that some of the provisions have little business in a budget reconciliation bill, which can make big changes to how the federal government spends money but, under Senate rules, isn’t allowed to substantively change policy. MacDonough’s rulings came about after days of behind-the-scenes meetings between her office and Senate staff. They illustrate the often-overlooked power of Senate procedure—and the person tasked with interpreting it. MacDonough, a former Justice Department trial attorney and the first woman to serve as Senate parliamentarian since the role was created in 1935, is Washington’s ultimate rules enforcer. She was appointed in 2012 and has struck prohibited measures from reconciliation bills several times under both Republicans and Democrats.

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Now, the parliamentarian’s rulings may force Republicans back to the drawing board just as they were hoping to finalize their legislative centerpiece. Here’s what to know about the rejected measures. What is the Byrd Rule? The Byrd Rule, adopted in 1985, is a procedural constraint named after the late Senator Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia to prohibit “extraneous” provisions from being tacked onto reconciliation bills, which are fast-tracked budget packages that allow legislation to pass with a simple majority, bypassing the 60-vote filibuster threshold. The rule makes it so that every line of a reconciliation package must have a direct and substantive impact on federal spending or revenues. Provisions that serve primarily policy goals—rather than budgetary ones—are subject to elimination by a parliamentary maneuver known as a point of order. Whether a point of order is sustained is ultimately made by the parliamentarian, who is essentially the Senate’s umpire tasked with providing nonpartisan advice and ensuring that lawmakers are complying with the Senate’s rules.

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Parliamentarians often face backlash during the budget reconciliation process, when they determine whether policy proposals comply with the constraints of the Byrd Rule. Rep. Greg Steube, a Florida Republican, called on the Senate to overrule the parliamentarian in response to rulings knocking out key Medicaid cuts. “How is it that an unelected swamp bureaucrat, who was appointed by Harry Reid over a decade ago, gets to decide what can and cannot go in President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill?” Steube posted on X. “The Senate Parliamentarian is not elected. She is not accountable to the American people. Yet she holds veto power over legislation supported by millions of voters. It is time for our elected leaders to take back control. @JDVance should overrule the Parliamentarian and let the will of the people, not some staffer hiding behind Senate procedure, determine the future of this country.”

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What’s been cut so far? MacDonough’s rulings have invalidated a number of headline-grabbing provisions that Republicans were counting on to reap hundreds of billions of dollars in budget savings, including one that would cap states’ ability to collect more federal Medicaid funding via healthcare care provider taxes and a separate plan requiring states to pay a portion of food benefits under the SNAP program—two of the largest spending cuts in the bill. Some of the rejected provisions were key Republican policy priorities, and could make lawmakers less enthusiastic about supporting Trump’s bill. The parliamentarian said the proposed change to how states can tax Medicaid providers does not adhere to rules for passing the bill with a simple majority. Medicaid cuts have been among the most thorny provisions to negotiate in the bill, as some Republicans are wary of the practical and political impacts of the Medicaid changes. The parliamentarian also struck down provisions meant to block the use of Medicaid funds for gender-affirming care and to prevent non-citizens from receiving Medicaid or CHIP coverage.

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Democrats took a victory lap after the parliamentarian’s ruling on the Medicaid tax provision, noting that it blew a $250 billion hole in the megabill’s savings. “Democrats fought and won, striking health care cuts from this bill that would hurt Americans’ walking on an economic tightrope,” said Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee. The food aid measure, which the parliamentarian said also violated the Byrd Rule, would have required all states to pay a percentage of SNAP benefit costs, with their share increasing if they reported a higher rate of errors in underpaying or overpaying recipients. Some lawmakers warned their states would not be able to make up the difference on food aid, which has long been provided by the federal government, and could force many to lose access to SNAP benefits. Republican Sen. John Boozman of Arkansas, the chairman of the Agriculture Committee, said in a statement that he’s looking for other ways to cut food assistance without violating Senate rules.

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The parliamentarian also rejected language authorizing states to conduct border security and immigration enforcement, which traditionally is left to the federal government, ruling that conditioning funds on immigration policy compliance is a policy change unrelated to budgetary outcomes. Republicans are working to adjust that provision to make sure it complies with the rules. Also rejected by the parliamentarian was a provision giving authority for state and local officials to arrest noncitizens suspected of being unlawfully present in the U.S. as well as language that would have blocked certain grant funding to so-called “sanctuary jurisdictions.” Another rejected provision would have zeroed out $6.4 billion in funding of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, effectively shuttering the agency. The bureau was created by Democrats as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act in the aftermath of the financial crisis as a way to protect Americans from financial fraud. Republicans have long decried the CFPB as an example of government over-regulation and overreach.

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The Senate parliamentarian also blocked a GOP provision intended to limit courts’ ability to hold Trump officials in contempt by requiring plaintiffs to post potentially enormous bonds when asking courts to issue preliminary injunctions or imposing temporary restraining orders against the federal government. Democrats hailed that decision by the parliamentarian, noting that it would have severely undermined the judiciary’s ability to check executive overreach. Senate Democrats “successfully fought for rule of law and struck out this reckless and downright un-American provision,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement. MacDonough also nixed provisions to reduce pay for certain Federal Reserve staff, slash $293 million from the Treasury Department’s Office of Financial Research, and dissolve the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, which is tasked with overseeing audits of publicly traded companies. Each of these proposals, she ruled, either lacked sufficient budgetary impact or were primarily aimed at changing policy, not federal revenues or outlays.

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MacDonough also found that Republicans cannot eliminate a variety of programs from President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act they had targeted for repeal, although she said they are still permitted to claw back unobligated funds from those initiatives. As such, a measure to repeal a Biden-era EPA rule limiting vehicle emissions was disqualified. Other Republican provisions the parliamentarian ruled against include: a measure that would have forced the government to sell off all electric vehicles owned by the Postal Service

a provision that would have exempted certain infrastructure projects from judicial review under the National Environmental Policy Act. The rejected proposal would have allowed companies to pay a fee in exchange for expedited permitting, a move Republicans argued would streamline bureaucratic delays.

Republican measures to give Congress more power over federal agency rules and to authorize the executive branch to reorganize federal agencies

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Are the parliamentarian’s rulings final, or can they be overturned? The parliamentarian’s decisions could, in theory, be overturned. Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota has the authority to ignore her ruling by calling for a floor vote to establish a new precedent—essentially overruling the Senate’s referee. Parliamentarians have been ignored in the past, though it is quite rare. In 1975, Vice President Nelson Rockefeller ignored the parliamentarian’s advice as the Senate debated filibuster rules. MacDonough has been overruled twice before: in 2013, when Democrats eliminated filibusters to approve presidential nominees, and in 2017, when Republicans expanded the filibuster ban to include Supreme Court nominations. But Thune has signaled he has no intention of going down that path this time. “We’re not going there,” the Senate Majority Leader said on June 2 when asked by reporters about overruling MacDonough.

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Thune could also fire the Senate Parliamentarian and replace her with one willing to interpret the rules more in line with how Senate Republicans view them.

Many Republican senators dismissed the idea of overruling the Senate parliamentarian after she rejected key Medicaid provisions in Trump’s tax and immigration bill Thursday, which dealt a blow to Republicans’ plan to slash costs in the budget package.

This sentiment comes as Senate Majority Leader John Thune has said for months that he was opposed to going against the Senate’s rule enforcer.

Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough on Thursday denied the GOP plan to cap states’ ability to collect more federal Medicaid funding through health care provider taxes — a controversial provision that would have funded much of the bill’s tax cuts. Most of the savings in the bill came from the changes in Medicaid.

MORE: Trump says no vacations until Congress passes his megabill

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MacDonough’s ruling means that Senate Republicans will need to retool the provision or scrap it entirely if they want to move forward with attempting to pass the bill using only GOP votes.

The ruling is a major setback for Republican leadership, who are under pressure to expeditiously move it to the Senate floor to meet Trump’s Fourth of July deadline for passage. This ruling will require potentially major reworks of the bill with relatively little time to accomplish them. And no matter how they change it, leaders are likely to frustrate some faction of the Republican conference, which could imperil the bill’s passage.

Meanwhile, Speaker Mike Johnson said the House is “on a wait and see basis” as the Senate continues to make changes to the bill.

The speaker said the Senate Medicaid ruling “doesn’t make it easier” for the bill to pass by the July 4 deadline.

“But you know me, hope springs eternal. And we are going to work around the clock to try and meet that deadline.”

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Johnson suggested he could “make a case” for overruling the parliamentarian.

“If only that were our decision,” he said. “The senators have to make that call. I mean, I can make a case for it, but no one’s asking.”

Asked Thursday afternoon when procedural votes on the bill might begin, Thune looked over his shoulder and said, “We’ll get back to you on that.”

Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images – PHOTO: Senate Majority Leader John Thune speaks with reporters following the weekly Senate Republican luncheon at the Capitol in Washington, June 24, 2025.

A number of Senate Republicans said on Thursday morning that they’d work to tweak language in the bill and send it back to MacDonough for review — but would not overrule her. It’s also unlikely that the Senate would move forward with the bill without the provider tax provisions, some said.

The Senate has “no intention of overruling her,” Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said of MacDonough. “But I think we’ll take another shot.”

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Other Republican senators said that this will delay the timeline for passing the bill, which was set to move through the chamber this weekend.

“I think we’ll make another run at it … my guess is that they’ll continue to work,” Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt said.

“Yeah, could push [the timeline] back,” Schmitt said about MacDonough’s ruling. “We’ll see. But we’re committed to being here through the weekend, so I don’t think it changes that overall time frame.”

MORE: Senate parliamentarian will have final say on some provisions in Trump’s funding bill

Republican Sen. Rick Scott said MacDonough’s ruling is “pretty frustrating,” but rejected the idea that the Senate would overrule the parliamentarian.

“What we’ve got to do is work through this process and come up with something that fulfills the Trump agenda — also has fiscal sanity. So I’m going to keep working hard to do that,” Scott said, adding he’s “optimistic” it can be accomplished.

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Republican Sen. John Kennedy stated clearly that “we would never overrule the parliamentarian.”

Other Republicans fumed over the parliamentarian and her ruling.

Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville came out brashly against MacDonough — calling for Thune to fire her “ASAP” and accused her of being partisan. He did not mention overruling her, however.

“The WOKE Senate Parliamentarian, who was appointed by Harry Reid and advised Al Gore, just STRUCK DOWN a provision BANNING illegals from stealing Medicaid from American citizens. This is a perfect example of why Americans hate THE SWAMP,” Tuberville said in a post on X.

“Unelected bureaucrats think they know better than U.S. Congressmen who are elected BY THE PEOPLE. Her job is not to push a woke agenda. THE SENATE PARLIAMENTARIAN SHOULD BE FIRED ASAP,” he added.

Kevin Carter/Getty Images – PHOTO: The Capitol Building is seen, May 31, 2025, in Washington, D.C.

Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin suggested that MacDonough made her rulings as part of a “political decision.”

“I’m concerned about the parliamentarian’s ability to make these decisions,” Mullin said.

He later added, “If it’s a political decision on [her] part, then that’s not OK.”

The provider tax credit provisions had been emerging as a thorn in leadership’s side even before MacDonough’s ruling.

For days, a small but critical faction of the Senate GOP conference had been raising major flags about the way this cut to states’ Medicaid revenue might kneecap rural hospitals in their states. A number of Republicans in the Senate were threatening to withhold their votes for the package because of these changes to the provider tax, so for that group, MacDonough’s ruling is likely a welcome one.

MORE: Senate parliamentarian will have final say on some provisions in Trump’s funding bill

If changes are made to the provision, all eyes will be on a handful of Senate Republicans. Some changes could be deal breakers for those whose vote is critical to moving the bill over the finish line.

MORE: It’s a big week for Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’

Last weekend, MacDonough carefully scrutinized the House-passed bill for possible violations of the Senate’s rules. She has already issued a number of decisions that Democrats are touting as major victories.

This review, called the Byrd Bath — named after the late Sen. Robert Byrd, who helped institute the rules governing budget reconciliation packages, is still underway in the Senate.

Any provision that MacDonough rules out of order with the Senate’s rules will have to be stripped or else the legislation will be subject to the 60-vote threshold in the Senate. Republicans need to avoid this, or they won’t be able to pass the bill.

From 7h ago 18.59 BST Senate Republicans race to resolve tax and health issues in Trump’s tax bill to meet 4 July deadline Republicans in Congress are scrambling to resolve nettlesome tax and health care provisions in their sweeping tax-cut and spending bill as Donald Trump presses them to pass the legislation by his 4 July deadline (which is … next week). Trump plans to promote the package – which nonpartisan analysts say will add about $3tn to the federal government’s $36.2tn in debt – at an afternoon White House event that will feature truck drivers, firefighters, ranchers and other workers who the administration says would benefit from the bill. But Senate Republicans have yet to produce their version of their legislation ahead of a possible weekend vote, and the overall shape of the bill appeared more uncertain after a nonpartisan referee ruled that several healthcare provisions violated the complex process Republicans are invoking to bypass Democratic opposition. Those elements collectively represented more than $250bn in health care cuts, according to Democratic senator Ron Wyden of Oregon. Democrats have lined up against the bill, portraying it as a wasteful giveaway to the wealthiest Americans. Senate Republicans have spent the last several weeks revising a bill that passed the House by one vote last month. It is unclear whether the GOP will be able to rework the bill to comply with the complex budget rules, as they have already done with some elements, or seek to override the decision by the Senate parliamentarian. Senator Rick Scott, a Florida Republican, told reporters: It’s pretty frustrating. But you know, what we’ve got to do is work through this process and come up with something that you know, fulfills the Trump agenda and also has fiscal sanity. Look, I believe this bill is going to pass. I know there’s a lot of work left to do. A source familiar with the situation told Reuters Senate Republicans still had a path forward and described the 4 July deadline as achievable. Republicans remain at odds over several provisions – notably a proposed tax break for state and local tax payments and a tax on health care providers that some states use to boost the federal government’s contribution to the Medicaid health plan. The parliamentarian also flagged provisions that would deny student aid and Medicaid health coverage to some immigrants, as well as a provision that would prohibit Medicaid funding for transgender medical care. Lawmakers a half-century ago decided that the Senate parliamentarian, currently Elizabeth MacDonough, would hold the power to determine what policies they can enact through “budget reconciliation,” the process that Republicans are using now to bypass the chamber’s “filibuster” rule that requires 60 of the 100 members to agree on most legislation. Republican senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama wrote that she should be fired. Her job is not to push a woke agenda. Tuberville wrote on social media. Others, notably Senate majority leader John Thune, have said they will not to overturn her rulings. Share

2h ago 00.13 BST Bill Moyers, the former White House press secretary who became one of television’s most honored journalists, masterfully using a visual medium to illuminate a world of ideas, died on Thursday at age 91. Moyers died in a New York City hospital, according to longtime friend Tom Johnson, the former chief executive of CNN and an assistant to Moyers during Lyndon B Johnson’s administration. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator, paid tribute to Moyers on X. Sanders wrote: Bill Moyers, a friend, public servant and outstanding journalist has passed away. As an aide to President Johnson, Bill pushed the president in a more progressive direction. As a journalist he had the courage to explore issues that many ignored. Bill will be sorely missed. Bill Moyers, Lyndon Johnson press chief and celebrated broadcaster, dies at 91 Read more Share

2h ago 23.53 BST Jennifer Rankin The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has said the EU is ready for a trade deal with Donald Trump, but “all options remain on the table”. Von der Leyen said she received the latest US negotiating document on Thursday. “Our message today is clear, we are ready for a deal,” she told reporters, after briefing EU leaders at a summit in Brussels. “At the same time, we are preparing for the possibility that no satisfactory agreement is reached … and we will defend the European interest as needed. In short, all options remain on the table.” The commission is responsible for trade on behalf of the EU’s 27 member states, but wanted a steer on how to approach the economically critical talks with the White House. Trump has threatened to impose 50% tariffs on all EU goods from 9 July unless the two sides reach a deal. Most EU goods already face a 10% tariff, with levies of 25% on cars and car parts and 50% on steel and aluminium. Differences are emerging between Germany and France. The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said a quick and simple trade deal was better than “slow and complicated”. The new centre-right chancellor is under heavy pressure from German carmakers and other exporters, who argue that an asymmetric deal – ie higher US tariffs on European goods – is better than no deal. French president Emmanuel Macron argued that accepting an unequal trading relationship would be damaging to Europe’s long-term competitiveness. One EU diplomat rejected the suggestion member states were divided, but said: “If we accept 10%, how long will it last?”, suggesting Trump could launch a new front in the trade war, or that it could affect negotiations with other trading partners. “Many member states realise this is not only one game. Maybe it will affect the way India approaches us, or China.” EU ready for trade deal with US but ‘all options remain on the table’, says von der Leyen Read more Share

2h ago 23.30 BST Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, has said Donald Trump’s budget bill will worsen the economy after the president’s tariffs created “chaos and pain for families and small businesses.” “Their Big, Beautiful Betrayal will take health insurance away from 16 million Americans, make it hard for families to put food on the table, and increase energy costs to serve billionaires instead of bolstering the middle class in the face of Trump’s self-induced economic headwinds,” Schumer said. Share

3h ago 23.15 BST Donald Trump has threatened to sue the New York Times and CNN over the outlets’ reporting on a preliminary intelligence assessment on the US strikes in Iran that found the operation did less damage to nuclear sites than the administration has claimed. The president has said Iran’s nuclear program was “obliterated”, but an early leaked intelligence report suggested the strikes likely only put the country back months. Trump’s personal lawyer wrote a letter to the Times asking for a retraction and apology for the article, which he claimed was “defamatory” and unpatriotic”, the newspaper reported. “No retraction is needed,” David McCraw, the New York Times lawyer, wrote in response. “No apology will be forthcoming,” he said. “We told the truth to the best of our ability. We will continue to do so.” Share

4h ago 22.10 BST Trump lavished praise on his budget bill during remarks at the White House on Thursday and urged Republican lawmakers to get behind it. “We don’t want to have grandstanders,” he said shortly before wrapping up the event. The president claimed the bill would offer the largest tax cut in US history while strengthening Medicaid and Social Security. The legislation will make the huge tax cuts established in 2017 permanent, and ultimately give the greatest cuts to the wealthiest Americans. The version currently in the US Senate would make historic cuts to Medicaid. Share

4h ago 21.50 BST Donald Trump said that the federal government will hire 3,000 new border patrol officers and 10,000 Ice agents with his tax and spending bill, describing it as “the single most important piece of border legislation ever to cross the floor of Congress.” He pledged to increase deportations to at least 1 million people a year as part of his administration’s immigration crackdown, “fully fund the final sections” of the border wall, and impose a remittance tax on money sent back to foreign countries. Share

4h ago 21.32 BST Donald Trump told an audience at the White House that he signed an agreement with China related to trade but he did not specify what he was talking about. Share

4h ago 21.32 BST Donald Trump is holding an event celebrating his tax and spending bill at the White House – despite ongoing opposition to key parts of the legislation and the Senate parliamentarian rejecting Medicaid cuts earlier today. We’ll bring you key lines as we get them. Share Updated at 21.56 BST

5h ago 20.40 BST Trump blames intelligence leak on Democrats and calls for prosecutions Donald Trump has claimed, without evidence, that “the Democrats” leaked an early intelligence assessment that found US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites were less effective than has been touted by the president and his administration and only set Tehran’s nuclear program back by months, and called for prosecutions. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: The Democrats are the ones who leaked the information on the PERFECT FLIGHT to the Nuclear Sites in Iran. They should be prosecuted! The initial classified US report produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency – the intelligence arm of the Pentagon – concluded that Trump’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities over the weekend did not destroy two of the sites, and found that key components of Iran’s nuclear program, including centrifuges, were capable of being restarted within months. It’s sent the Trump administration on the defensive today, with officials insisting that the strikes “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear capabilities and attacking the media for coverage of the report. Defense secretary Pete Hegseth also said he wasn’t aware of any intelligence to suggest that Iran had moved the highly enriched uranium from any of the three nuclear sites the US struck, and Trump also said, without evidence, that “nothing was taken out of the facility” ahead of the strikes. White House press secretary also said there was “no indication” that the uranium had been moved. Share Updated at 20.53 BST

6h ago 20.19 BST RFK Jr’s vaccine panel recommends new RSV treatment for infants Jessica Glenza Robert F Kennedy Jr’s reconstituted vaccine advisory panel recommended a new treatment to prevent respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in infants. The treatment, a new monoclonal antibody called clesrovimab, which will be sold under the brand name Enflonsia by Merck, was recommended by the powerful committee after being approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) roughly two weeks ago. The tortured vote took place a day late and after rounds of questions from the panel’s seven new members – all ideological allies of Trump’s health secretary, who views “overmedicalization” as one of the greatest threats to American children. “I think we need to ask ourselves what the parent would say given this data,” said Dr Retsef Levi, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor of operations management, who over hours of hearings has proven to be an outspoken skeptic of the medications under review. He said he would be “concerned” and ultimately voted against recommending the monoclonal antibody. RFK Jr’s vaccine panel recommends new RSV treatment for infants Read more Share

6h ago 20.09 BST Trump decision on Fed not imminent – Reuters Donald Trump has not decided on a replacement for Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell and a decision isn’t imminent, a person familiar with the White House’s deliberations has told Reuters. It comes after the dollar dropped overnight and investors, also reacting to weaker economic data, increased their bets on Fed rate cuts this year after a Wall Street Journal story said Trump was considering naming Powell’s replacement early in hopes that person could have immediate influence convincing the central bank to lower interest rates as the president has demanded. The White House declined to comment, referring to the statements Trump has made publicly on the topic. Those have included regular beratings of Powell as a “major loser” and “stupid” for not cutting rates, a 6 June statement that he would name Powell’s replacement “very soon,” resignation that a supreme court decision meant he could not fire Powell outright, and a statement this week that he had narrowed the list of replacements to “three or four”. Potential nominees include former Fed governor Kevin Warsh, who has close ties to the Trump Organization and was almost named central bank chief in the president’s first term in the White House, as well as Kevin Hassett, who is the director of the White House’s National Economic Council, current treasury secretary Scott Bessent, and current Fed governor Christopher Waller, according to the person familiar with the deliberations. But the person, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter, downplayed how fast Trump might act. Powell’s term as Fed chief does not end until next May, and the recent supreme court decision appeared to insulate him from being fired over a policy dispute – a fact that could also limit Trump’s ability to reshape the central bank before his second and final term ends in January 2029. However, an early announcement of the next Fed chair could allow whoever Trump picks to influence expectations about the path for interest rates, which could undermine Powell during the final months of his term. The Fed has repeatedly stated that it makes decisions based on economic data rather than on political interventions. It added that it had kept rates on hold in June amid uncertainty over Trump’s controversial tariff plans, which have caused the central bank to raise its projections for inflation. Share Updated at 20.11 BST

6h ago 19.57 BST RFK Jr’s new vaccine panel votes against preservative in flu shots in shock move Jessica Glenza A critical federal vaccine panel has recommended against seasonal influenza vaccines containing a specific preservative – a change likely to send shock through the global medical and scientific community and possibly impact future vaccine availability. The panel was unilaterally remade by health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, a vaccine skeptic who has urged against the use of thimerosal despite a lack of evidence of real-world harm. Across three votes, members voted in favor of restricting thimerosal in seasonal influenza vaccines across all age groups – with five in favor of the restriction, one abstention and one vote against. “The risk from influenza is so much greater than the nonexistent – as far as we know – risk from thimerosal,” said Dr Cody Meissner, a panel member and professor of pediatrics at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine who was the lone “no” vote. “I would hate for a person not to receive the influenza vaccine because the only availability preparation contains thimerosal – I find that very hard to justify.” The panel, formally called the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is a critical link in the vaccine distribution pipeline – informing health insurers and clinicians alike about which vaccines to give patients. Kennedy fired all 17 former members of the panel in June, citing conflicts of interest, and appointed eight new members, all of whom are ideological allies of the secretary. Rather than vote on an agenda that had once included seasonal recommendations for Covid-19 and the vaccine against human papilloma virus (HPV), ACIP added the controversial focus of thimerosal in vaccines. The panel affirmed that the influenza vaccine is recommended for Americans older than six months. Although multiple studies have found no real-world harm, the preservative has been a talking point of anti-vaccine advocates for decades. Multiple representatives of physicians associations urged the panel to reject the recommendation against thimerosal in the meeting. Thimerosal is used in about 5% of multidose seasonal influenza vials, and is known to be more cost effective than single-dose formulations. It is unclear how the vote will impact flu vaccine availability before the upcoming flu season, particularly for clinics that rely on such formulations. Thimerosal has been used as a preservative in vaccines since before the second world war. In the early 2000s, thimerosal was removed from all routine pediatric and most adult vaccines as a precautionary measure – a decision that was criticized by experts who argued it sent mixed messages about a preservative that had not been found to cause harm. The issue has since been considered settled by mainstream medicine. RFK Jr’s new vaccine panel votes against preservative in flu shots in shock move Read more Share