Thune plows ahead to pass Trump's megabill as Musk continues to bash it
Source: ABC News
June 5, 2025, 4:08 PM
Senate Republican Leader John Thune reiterated that "failure is not an option" as he works to get GOP holdouts on the megabill advancing President Donald Trump's legislative agenda in line -- especially amid Elon Musk's efforts to tank the bill.
"This is a team effort, and everybody is going to be rowing in the same direction to get this across the finish line. Failure is not an option, and we intend to deliver, along with the president for the American people on the things that he committed to do and that we committed to do in terms of the agenda," Thune told reporters after he left a meeting with Trump at the White House on Thursday.
As things currently stand, Thune can afford to lose only three of his GOP members to pass the package, and right now, he has more members than that expressing serious doubts about the bill. The House-passed legislation extends the Trump 2017 tax cuts, boosts spending for the military and border security -- while making some cuts to Medicaid, SNAP and other assistance programs. It could also add $3 trillion to the deficit over the next decade, according to an analysis out Wednesday from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
As the Senate weighs possible changes to the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap as part of the tax portion of the bill, House Republicans from blue states are already threatening to derail the bill's prospects.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/thune-plows-ahead-pass-trumps-megabill-musk-continues/story?id=122540259
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