'baby Steps': Leader Thune Details His Work To Corral Republicans Behind Trump's Legislative Vision

FIRST ON FOX: Senate Majority Leader John Thune is weathering headwinds successful his ain convention complete outstanding concerns successful President Donald Trump’s "big, beautiful bill" that frighten to derail nan legislation, but he’s taking it successful stride and opinionated patient that nan megabill will make it to nan president's table by July 4.

"We person to deed it, and you cognize whether that intends it's nan extremity of adjacent week, aliases whether we rotation into that Fourth of July week," nan South Dakota Republican told Fox News Digital during an question and reply from his activity suite.

"But if we person to spell into that week, we will," he continued. "I deliberation it's that important. And you cognize what I've seen astir here, astatine slightest successful nan past, my experience, if there's nary deadline, things thin to resistance connected endlessly."

TOP TRUMP ALLY PREDICTS SENATE WILL BLOW PAST 'BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL' DEADLINE

Senate Majority Leader John Thune speaks during a news convention astatine nan U.S. Capitol connected June 17, 2025. (Getty Images)

Senate Republicans person been moving connected their type of Trump’s mammoth bill, which includes priorities to make his 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent, sweeping changes to healthcare, Biden-era power credits and heavy spending cuts, among others, since nan opening of June.

Now that each information of nan measure has been released, Thune is eyeing having nan measure connected nan level by nan mediate of adjacent week. But, he still has to wrangle disparate factions wrong nan Senate GOP to get connected committee pinch nan bill.

"It is simply a activity successful progress," Thune said. "It's, you know, sometimes it's benignant of incremental babe steps."

A cohort of fiscal hawks, led by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., are unhappy pinch nan level of spending cuts successful nan bill. Some Senate Republicans want to execute astatine slightest $2 trillion successful spending cuts complete nan adjacent decade, but Johnson has remained patient successful his belief that nan measure should spell deeper and return to pre-COVID-19 pandemic spending levels.

Others, including Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, are upset pinch tweaks to Medicaid, and nan effect those changes could person connected agrarian hospitals and moving group connected nan healthcare program’s use rolls.

'IT JUST BAFFLES ME': SENATE REPUBLICANS SOUND ALARM OVER MEDICAID CHANGES, SPENDING IN TRUMP MEGABILL

Senate Majority Leader John Thune is signaling that changes are apt to nan House's type of President Trump's "big, beautiful bill." (Getty Images)

Thune has to onslaught a precarious balancing enactment to sate nan concerns of his conference, fixed that he tin only spend to suffer 3 votes. It’s a reality he acknowledged and described arsenic trying to find "the saccharine spot" wherever he tin beforehand nan measure backmost to nan House.

He’s been gathering pinch nan factions individually, communicating pinch nan White House and moving to "make judge everybody's rolling successful nan aforesaid direction."

"Everybody has different views astir really to do that, but successful nan end, it's cobbling together nan basal 51 votes, truthful we're moving pinch anybody who is offering feedback," he said.

Collins and others are moving connected nan broadside to create a supplier alleviation money that could connection a salve to nan lingering issues astir nan crackdown connected nan Medicaid supplier complaint taxation successful nan bill.

The Senate Finance Committee went further than nan House’s frost of nan supplier taxation rate, aliases nan magnitude that authorities Medicaid programs salary to healthcare providers connected behalf of Medicaid beneficiaries, for non-Affordable Care Act description states, and included a proviso that lowers nan complaint successful description states annually until it hits 3.5%.

"We're going to do everything we tin to make judge that, for example, agrarian hospitals person immoderate further assistance to benignant of soft that transition," Thune said.

BLUE STATE REPUBLICANS THREATEN REVOLT AGAINST TRUMP'S 'BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL' IF SENATE CHANGES KEY TAX RULE

An amended type of nan House-passed Trump fund was voted connected astatine nan extremity of a marathon ballot bid successful nan Senate. (Reuters)

Thune, who is simply a personnel of nan Finance panel, noted that "we each work together that nan supplier taxation has been gamed" and "abused" by bluish states for illustration New York and California, and based on that nan changes were done to thief "right nan ship" successful nan program.

"I deliberation that's why nan benignant of off-ramp, soft-landing attack [from] nan Finance committee makes sense, but these are important changes," he said. "But connected nan different hand, if we don't commencement doing immoderate things to betterment and fortify these programs, these programs aren't going to beryllium astir forever, because we're not going to beryllium capable to spend them."

The Senate’s merchandise won’t beryllium nan extremity of nan reconciliation process, however. The changes successful nan measure will person to beryllium green-lit by nan House, and 1 alteration successful peculiar to nan authorities and section taxation (SALT) conclusion headdress already has a cohort of bluish authorities House Republicans furious and threatening to termination nan bill.

The Senate’s bill, for now, near nan headdress unchanged astatine $10,000 from nan argumentation ushered successful by Trump’s first-term taxation cuts, a fig that Senate Republicans position arsenic a placeholder while negotiations continue.

Indeed, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., is moving pinch members of nan SALT caucus successful nan House to find a discuss connected nan cap. But nan appetite to support nan House-passed $40,000 headdress isn’t beardown successful nan Senate.  

"The passion successful nan Senate is arsenic beardown arsenic it is successful nan House against changing nan existent argumentation and rule successful a measurement that… favors high-tax states to nan detriment and disadvantage of debased taxation states," he said. "And truthful it's nan emotion that you spot successful nan House broadside connected that peculiar rumor is matched successful nan Senate successful a different direction."

Meanwhile, arsenic negotiations proceed down nan scenes connected ways to reside issues among Senate Republicans, nan Senate Parliamentarian is presently chunking done each conception of nan greater "big, beautiful bill." 

The parliamentarian’s domiciled is to find whether policies wrong each conception of nan measure comport pinch nan Byrd Rule, which is nan arcane group of parameters that govern nan fund reconciliation process.

Thune has made clear that he would not overrule that parliamentarian connected Trump’s megabill, and re-upped that position erstwhile more. The reconciliation process gives either statement successful powerfulness nan opportunity to walk authorities connected statement lines and skirt nan Senate filibuster, but it has to adhere to nan Byrd Rule’s requirements that argumentation deals pinch spending and revenue.

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However, he countered that Senate Republicans planned to return a page from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., erstwhile Democrats rammed erstwhile President Joe Biden’s schedule done Congress.

"The Democrats pinch nan [Inflation Reduction Act] and [American Rescue Plan Act], for that matter, they dramatically expanded nan scope of reconciliation and what's eligible for consideration," he said.

"So, we've utilized that template, and we're pushing arsenic difficult arsenic we tin to make judge that it allows america to execute our agenda, aliases astatine slightest arsenic overmuch of our schedule arsenic possible, and fresh wrong nan parameters of what's allowed," he continued.