The latest headache for negotiators is a proposal being pushed by fiscal conservatives to root out more than $200 billion in what they’re calling waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare.
Here are some of the issues that threaten to derail the Senate bill.
Medicaid: Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) are threatening to vote against the bill if it reduces Medicaid benefits to constituents, and they have yet to see what language the Senate Finance Committee will roll out on the issue.
SNAP: Several Senate Republicans are also raising concerns over a projected $267 billion in spending cuts to the SNAP, including Collins and Moran. The Maine Republican says she’s concerned about language in the bill that would shift many of the burdens of administering the programs onto the states and penalize those states that have older systems for monitoring benefits.
Spectrum auction: Sens. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, are digging in their heels over language in the House-passed bill to auction off government-owned spectrum, which they fear could impede the Defense Department’s use of those frequencies for radar and communications.
The Hill’s Alexander Bolton has more here.
