Today’s notice: Legislation slog sees an end (at least in the House). Trump’s IVF options. An Oval Office fight. And: what the MAGA faithful want.
Johnson 1, Sleep 0
It was a lot of drama to get here, but in the end, House Republicans passed their One Big, Beautiful Bill with minimal conservative defections this morning.
Only Reps. Thomas Massie and Warren Davidson joined Democrats in voting against the bill (House Freedom Ccaucus Chair Andy Harris voted present). Despite making a dramatic show over the past few weeks by arguing that the legislation didn’t cut enough spending from Medicaid, most Freedom Caucus members changed their minds once they sat down with President Donald Trump on Wednesday.
Influential conservative Rep. Ralph Norman put it thusly to reporters: “The president has got a lot of power.”
After an overnight debate (following an overnight Rules meeting the night before) House Speaker Mike Johnson was in good spirits to have gotten the bill over the line before his self-imposed deadline of Memorial Day.
“It quite literally is, my friends, morning in America,” Johnson said on the floor prior to the vote.
Read more from NOTUS’ Hill team.
What MAGA Wants
One of the most interesting political dynamics of the past few weeks was that Trump’s most reliable MAGA allies were the ones balking the loudest at the OBBB.
So what do the MAGA faithful make of their MAGA elected officials temporarily holding up Trump’s agenda?
NOTUS’ Calen Razor checked in with Republicans in the districts of four conservative members who voted against the bill in the Budget Committee last week. He found that some were happy to see their guys’ contrarian streaks continue — but others warned that patience was running out.
“People love Roy here and are, like him, concerned about the national debt and want to see Medicaid reformed and waste, fraud and abuse stopped,” said a county GOP official in Kendall County, Texas, which is represented by Rep. Chip Roy. “But they also want to see Donald Trump be successful. We want the bill passed now.” (Roy ultimately voted for the bill Thursday).
Eyes now turn to the Senate, where at least three Republicans — Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins and Josh Hawley — have expressed serious concerns about the bill’s cuts to Medicaid, among other things. Senators in the MAGA vein — Rand Paul, Mike Lee and Ron Johnson — have been adamant that the House cuts don’t go far enough to reduce the deficit.
It’s harder for Trump to twist arms in the Senate, though we have no doubt he’ll try. What’s less clear right now is how hard the MAGA base will push senators and how closely they’ll listen.
—Evan McMorris-Santoro | Read what the local Republicans told Calen.
Not Us
We know NOTUS reporters can’t cover it all. Here’s some other great hits by… not us.
- Pegasus spyware maker rebuffed in efforts to get off trade blacklist, by Ellen Nakashima, Elizabeth Dwoskin and Aaron Schaffer for The Washington Post
- Hack of Contractor Was at Root of Massive Federal Data Breach, by Jason Leopold for Bloomberg
- Revealed: UnitedHealth secretly paid nursing homes to reduce hospital transfers, by George Joseph for The Guardian
Republicans Stand Up for Narcan
Trump’s budget proposal suggests cutting funds for a naloxone training and distribution program. Limiting access to the overdose-reversing drug — commonly known by its brand name, Narcan — is a no-go for some Republican lawmakers from states hit especially hard by the opioid crisis, NOTUS’ Emily Kennard reports.
“I’ll probably speak with President Trump directly,” Sen. Jim Justice told her. “It is a real need, and there’s a real necessity in West Virginia, because we have lots and lots of issues there.”
Read more about Republican concerns over naloxone access.
The Latest From the ‘Fertilization President’
The Trump administration is considering declaring IVF an “essential health benefit” under the Affordable Care Act, according to a key White House adviser on fertility treatments.
Kaylen Silverberg, the chair of Americans for IVF’s advisory board and an adviser to the Domestic Policy Council, told NOTUS’ Oriana González that in addition to IVF becoming an essential health benefit, other options on the table likely include offering tax credits to offset the high cost of IVF or even requiring private insurers to cover fertility treatments.
The Domestic Policy Council delivered recommendations on IVF to the White House on Monday, and lawmakers are watching closely to see what they entail.
Read more on what this means for IVF.
When Saving Money Is Bad Politics
The Congressional Budget Office recently estimated that eliminating federal funding to Planned Parenthood was the only health care-related provision of the reconciliation bill that would actually add to the federal deficit, to the tune of $300 million over 10 years.
Many of the GOP’s most steadfast deficit hawks are also the loudest supporters of defunding Planned Parenthood. They have chosen to prioritize the defunding.
“We should decrease the deficit in other ways,” Rep. Chip Roy told NOTUS’ Oriana González.
Read what other deficit hawks said.
Quotable
“I am sorry I don’t have a plane to give you.”
- President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa joking with Trump during one of the less-tense moments at an Oval Office meeting Wednesday that definitely had more than a few.
Read the report from NOTUS’ Violet Jira and Jasmine Wright.
Front Page
- Jared Golden Trails Paul LePage in a New GOP Poll: The Congressional Leadership Fund poll also found a Republican leading a generic ballot in the district 47% to 38%.
- Louisiana Lawmakers Split on What Medicaid Changes Would Mean for Their State: Democrats say they’re limited in what they can do, but plan to fight cuts to a program that has an outsized role in their state.
- Rep. Gerry Connolly Has Died: The news comes just a few weeks after he announced his cancer had returned and he wouldn’t run for reelection to his Virginia seat.
Be Social
Congress, still so good at making a meme become real.
https://x.com/Eleanor_Mueller/status/1925253995297112154
Have a Tip? Email Us.
Reach us at tips@notus.org. As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts on our newsletter at newsletters@notus.org.
Thank you for reading! If you like this edition of the NOTUS newsletter, please forward it to a friend. If this newsletter was shared with you, please subscribe (it’s free!).