House GOP finalizes tweaks to keep megabill on track in Senate

Even though Senate Republicans are making their own changes to the package, the issues with the House-passed version needed to be resolved before the measure was officially sent to the Senate to guarantee the bill wouldn’t lose its power to skirt the filibuster.

It all underscores the difficult choices Republicans have to make to ensure they don’t lose their best chance to pass President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” with a self-imposed deadline of July 4.

The amendment House Republicans plan to approve this week would change a policy in their original legislation that would have ended some increased SNAP nutrition assistance for households that also qualify for subsidies to help cover the cost of heating and cooling their homes. Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) complained about that piece of the House plan.

Republicans are also forgoing a contentious provision that would have reversed the Biden administration’s moves to bar mining near Minnesota’s Boundary Waters wilderness, where a company called Twin Metals has long sought to mine copper and nickel. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

House Republicans are, as well, abandoning the extension of a policy that requires federal agencies to procure a certain amount of biofuels or bio-based products.

So the House doesn’t have to vote again on passage of the tax and spending package that was difficult to whip the first time, the changes will be adopted through a fast-track tactic: By approving a resolution to tee up floor debate on a separate bill, the House will also be voting to amend the megabill before it is officially transmitted to the Senate.

In the coming weeks, Senate Republicans will begin to receive “Byrd Bath” rulings from the Senate parliamentarian, flagging additional policies that don’t work under the special rules. The most well-known type of violation is policies that don’t have a direct impact on federal spending, revenue or the debt limit.

James Bikales, Brian Faler, Benjamin Guggenheim, Grace Yarrow and Nicholas Wu contributed to this report.