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Republican senators are pushing back after Senate leadership, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, surprised them with even deeper Medicaid cuts in proposed changes to a sweeping tax bill.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune is under fire from fellow Republicans after unveiling a sweeping tax and spending bill that includes deeper-than-expected Medicaid cuts, leaving even GOP allies blindsided.

As part of President Donald Trump's new "big, beautiful bill" initiative, Senate Republicans introduced a revised tax and spending package aimed at making several corporate tax cuts permanent while slashing government spending. The bill follows months of tense negotiations and was expected to mirror the House version, which already drew concern for steep Medicaid reductions.

Yet, to the surprise of several Republican senators, the Senate draft went further, proposing additional cuts to Medicaid and phasing out clean energy tax credits at a quicker pace, The Hill reported.

Senators such as Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) expressed outrage this week over not just the scale of the cuts, but the lack of communication from leadership. Hawley said the proposal "caught me by surprise" and warned that nearly half of Missouri's rural hospitals could shutter under the current plan.

Murkowski flagged the Medicaid work requirement provisions as unrealistic for states like Alaska, and Collins cited the threat to health care provider taxes as a potential blow to Maine's already struggling rural hospitals. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) also raised alarms over language that could undercut West Virginia's clean energy initiatives.

Meanwhile, Thune and Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) defended the bill, arguing that cuts are needed to offset the cost of permanent tax breaks and comply with budget rules. With opposition already firm from Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Thune now has little room for additional defections.

Originally published on Latin Times

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