Politics
Senate Republicans Want to Trim Some of Trump’s Tax Cuts in Domestic Policy Bill
Even before the House passed the sweeping bill carrying President Trump’s domestic policy agenda, Senate Republicans made it clear that they hoped to make major changes to the legislation before the G.O.P. was done muscling it through Congress.
Several have wanted to pare back the cuts to Medicaid, the health care program for the poor, that House Republicans envisioned in the version of the legislation that they approved late last month. A handful have sought to salvage tax credits incentivizing clean energy projects that the House measure would repeal. Many have pushed to grant companies prized tax breaks for the long run, not just for a few years, as their colleagues across the Capitol opted to do.
The problem senators face is that each of these changes would be expensive. At $2.4 trillion, the cost of the legislation that barely passed the House is already huge. So Senate Republicans are now hunting for ways to save money, a hazardous task that could involve shaving the ambitions of their colleagues in the House or in the White House.
On the chopping block are some of Mr. Trump’s favorite parts of the bill, like not taxing overtime. Republican lawmakers have long been skeptical of some of the president’s tax ideas, with the view that the populist policies will not spur the economy like traditional supply-side conservatism can.
“I think it all comes down to what we’ve got to pay for,” Senator Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina, said. “At the end of the day, we’ve got to pay for pro-growth policies.”
The debate is in some ways a classic one on Capitol Hill, where throughout history and without regard to political party, senators have been reluctant to defer to their colleagues in the House, and vice versa.
“It’s the Senate, so the Senate is going to do what it damn well wants to do, and that’s a good process,” Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, said at a Punchbowl News event on Wednesday, where he warned that his chamber would pass a bill “markedly different” from the House measure, pushing enactment of the package well past his party’s July 4 deadline.
To top Senate Republicans, the most economically powerful tax cuts incentivize companies to make new investments and conduct research. Accelerated depreciation schedules, though, do not grab political attention the way Mr. Trump’s promises for “no tax on tips” did, so the House version of the bill only included the business tax breaks through 2029.
Senate Republicans want to make the business write-offs a permanent feature of the tax code, a change that they and some economists believe would help encourage more companies to expand. As one way to cover that cost, Senate Republicans are looking at ways to further curb eligibility for a tax cut for overtime pay, including by setting a lower income ceiling for the break and by more strictly defining what counts as overtime, lawmakers said.
“Obviously, there’s a lot of dials, whether you’re talking about no tax on tips, overtime, any of those,” said Senator Roger Marshall, Republican of Kansas. “How many years did they go? At what level do they stop?”
Senator Bernie Moreno, Republican of Ohio and a former car dealer, wants to tighten the House plan for allowing Americans to deduct up to $10,000 in interest on car loans, which would apply to vehicles made in the United States, including used and new cars, as well as all-terrain vehicles and recreational vehicles. Mr. Moreno is proposing to limit the tax break, one of Mr. Trump’s campaign promises, just to loans for new cars.
“We save a lot of money. An R.V.? Motorcycles? A.T.V.s?” he said. “That’s not the idea; the idea is to help working Americans be able to afford a car.”
Senate Republicans are searching for cuts because of growing concern among some conservatives, as well as on Wall Street, about the bill’s impact on the country’s fiscal situation. While paring back some of Mr. Trump’s campaign promises could help keep the cost of the legislation near what it was in the House, some lawmakers are calling for much deeper spending cuts.
Senator Ron Johnson, Republican of Wisconsin, has been loudly calling for the legislation, which already includes roughly $1.8 trillion in spending reductions, to slash trillions more. His complaints won him a meeting with top White House officials, including Vice President JD Vance, at the Capitol this week.
Mr. Johnson’s pitch is to remove all of Mr. Trump’s new tax priorities from the bill and instead focus the legislation exclusively on extending expiring tax cuts from 2017, cutting spending and raising the debt ceiling. Republicans could then tackle White House priorities, and further spending cuts, in a second piece of legislation, Mr. Johnson argues.
“You can’t do it in one fell swoop. I don’t want to criticize what has been done; I want to support what’s been done,” he said. “But I absolutely — I can’t accept that this is the new norm. We need another bite of the apple in this Congress.”
Of course, jettisoning much of the president’s agenda from the legislation is a tall order, and White House officials have been making the case for the House measures to cut taxes on tips, overtime and for older Americans.
“No Tax on Overtime and No Tax on Tips are presidential priorities that 80 million Americans voted for in November,” Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, said in a statement. “They will remain in this historic piece of legislation in order to deliver the largest tax cut in history.”
There are other sources of money tempting Senate Republicans. Some are considering cuts to Medicare, though changes to the health care program for older Americans comes with substantial political risks.
Then there is the state and local tax deduction, often called SALT. In the House, a small group of Republicans from New York, New Jersey and California demanded that the legislation include an increase to the $10,000 cap on the deduction. They ultimately won an agreement to set the new limit at $40,000, an expensive change that would largely benefit homeowners in areas with high taxes.
While the change was necessary to win the support of blue-state Republicans in the House, senators are less committed to the policy. Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the Republican majority leader, recently remarked at the White House that “there really isn’t a single Republican senator who cares much about the SALT issue.”
At the same time, House Republicans committed to more SALT relief have warned that changing the House agreement could scuttle the entire package. But some Republican senators cannot help but think that money earmarked for a higher SALT cap could have a better use.
“There’s a lot of things we could do with that,” said Senator James Lankford, Republican of Oklahoma.
Megan Mineiro contributed reporting.
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Maine state Rep. Valli Geiger, a Rockland Democrat, former nurse and former mayor, is drawing sudden national attention after saying now-former Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner encouraged her to consider taking his place on the ballot in the Maine Senate race.
While Geiger has not been named the replacement nominee, her name entered the Maine Senate scramble after she told local outlet WMTW that Platner called her Monday night, praised her as a “fighter” and asked whether he could put her name forward. Platner’s campaign told the outlet he had not made an endorsement decision but confirmed he encouraged Geiger to consider running if he stepped aside.
After Geiger said Platner called her about potentially putting her name forward, Geiger posted Tuesday she would not “throw Graham under the bus,” while also saying she would not “slander or accuse” Jenny Racicot, the woman who accused Platner of rape, “of anything more than telling the truth as she experienced it.”
By Wednesday, local outlets were reporting that Geiger said Platner had encouraged her to consider running if he withdrew. Platner, who suspended his campaign Wednesday night, has denied the claim.
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Graham Platner Maine State Rep. Valli Geiger (Maine State Legislature/Getty Images)
“For the movement to continue, it can’t be me. For that reason, we are suspending campaign operations,” Platner said in a video posted to social media.
Geiger is a third-term Democratic state representative from Rockland, according to her legislative biography, representing a coastal House district in Maine that includes Rockland, Criehaven Township, Matinicus Isle Plantation, the Muscle Ridge Islands, North Haven and part of Owls Head. Her biography says she serves on the Labor Committee and the Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee.
Before entering the state legislature, Geiger served six years on the Rockland City Council, including one year as mayor and four years on the Rockland Comprehensive Planning Commission, three of them as chair.
Her biography says she holds a master’s degree in sustainable design and built her own passive-solar, net-zero-energy house. It also describes her as a former nurse at Pen Bay Medical Center who later worked as a health policy analyst and health administrator, including as director of the Healthreach Hospice program and clinical director for Federally Qualified Health Centers around Maine.
The Maine State Capitol May 18, 2026, in Augusta, Maine. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
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Geiger’s connection to Platner predates the latest replacement speculation. Local reporting has described her as a close Platner supporter, and WMTW reported she previously stood with him and credited him with helping secure funding for rape kit tracking in Maine.
In her Facebook post responding to Racicot’s allegation, Geiger wrote that Racicot’s story “seems credible” but added that “none of us knows the truth nor will we ever.” She also described Platner as “a man becoming a better man” and said she had hoped he would lead the political movement his campaign had built and will not “throw Graham under the bus.”
In the post, Geiger also praised Platner’s “passion for economic populism” and said she had granted him “an enormous amount of grace” for his behavior during what she described as his “dark years” after multiple deployments.
Dr. Nirav D. Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, speaks during a news conference about COVID-19 at Maine Emergency Management Agency in Augusta. (Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)
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The Maine state representative is not the only Democrat whose name has surfaced as Maine Democrats prepare for the possibility that Platner exits the race against Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
Several Democrats have expressed interest or are considering bids, including former gubernatorial candidate Troy Jackson, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and former Maine CDC Director Nirav Shah.
Under Maine law, the Maine Democratic Party can replace him on the general election ballot by selecting a new nominee through its party process, with the replacement required to be chosen by July 27.
Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
Politics
Nexstar launches its first digital subscription service with The Hill Insider, aimed at political junkies
Nexstar Media Group’s The Hill, the political web site that started as a free newspaper read in most congressional offices in Washington, is launching a new direct-to-consumer streaming service that will be behind a paywall.
Starting Wednesday, Nexstar will offer The Hill Insider, which will carry daily streaming video programs and newsletters. Subscribers will also be able to interact with The Hill’s journalists and analysts, who will take questions live.
The service, available for $5.99 a month or $59.99 a year, is the first digital subscription product for the Irving, TX-based Nexstar, the largest owner of television stations in the U.S. Premium memberships are available for $9.99 a month, or $99.99 a year, which will be ad-free and offer access to live events presented by The Hill.
The endeavor is the first subscription streaming service offered by Nexstar. The Hill already produces a free ad-supported streaming channel distributed on such platforms as Roku.
The free version of The Hill is the most viewed political web site in the U.S. with 1.24 billion page views in 2025, a year-to-year increase of 7%, according to Comscore. The Hill is known for offering brisk, up-to-date reports out of each branch of government in Washington, and is often linked to on other websites.
Nexstar, which also owns the cable network NewsNation, acquired The Hill in 2021 from New York-based entrepreneur James Finkelstein for $130 million. NewsNation adapted The Hill brand name for its Washington-based programs, including a Sunday roundtable show with Chris Stirewalt, politics editor for The Hill and NewsNation.
NewsNation politics editor Chris Stirewalt on the set of “The Hill Sunday.”
(NewsNation)
Stirewalt and the Washington journalists and commentators seen on NewsNation programs will be featured on The Hill Insider. The service will also use the resources of Decision Desk HQ, the political media firm that was the first to call President Trump’s victory on election night in 2024. Decision Desk will be involved in a streaming show called “Data Nerds.”
The Hill Insider will be aimed at the political junkie who wants to go deeper on polling data and hear longer, in-depth discussion on issues. Bill Sammons, senior vice president of editorial content for Nexstar, said the company’s research shows there is a national appetite for such content, as only 5% of The Hill’s current audience is based in Washington.
The Hill has long touted itself as non-partisan and Stirewalt hopes users will gravitate to the subscription version to become better informed about legislative and political issues and not reaffirm their existing opinions.
“My imagined audience is of people in America who are not addicted to politics but are addicted to good citizenship and the idea of fulfilling their civic virtue,” Stirewalt said in a recent interview. “And they would like to do it in a way that doesn’t insult their intelligence.”
While the free version of The Hill has been growing, the new subscription product enters a crowded field of digital programs and platforms aimed at the consumers of political news.
The launch comes as journalists from legacy media such as former CNN anchor Jim Acosta, former ABC News correspondent Terry Moran, and Chuck Todd, the longtime moderator of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” have launched their own daily podcasts and newsletters as second acts in their careers.
MS NOW, the progressive-leaning cable news channel, is entering the direct to consumer market later this year making the channel available outside of pay-TV packages for the first time. Like The Hill Insider, the MS NOW streaming product is expected to offer users additional benefits, such as access to live events and content not seen on the cable network.
Original topical programming that does not have a shelf life is challenging to sustain on a streaming service. When Fox News Media launched its streaming service Fox Nation in 2018, it carried a line-up of live, politically-oriented shows aimed at its conservative-leaning audience. The service eventually pivoted to documentary, movies and lifestyle programming and became the home of the annual Fox News fan event, The Fox Nation Patriot Awards.
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Political heavyweight Dana White, whose endorsement of President Donald Trump was instrumental in his 2024 victory, is now hinting that he may jump back into presidential politics in 2028 because he has “become really close” with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
This comes as White’s UFC announced a rare “sports diplomacy” partnership with the State Department this week. White and Rubio signed a memorandum of understanding establishing the partnership last month, according to a UFC statement. The league said that as part of the agreement, UFC athletes and coaches will serve as “sports ambassadors” for young athletes around the world through the State Department’s Sports Envoy Program.
White was explicitly asked by OutKick’s Tomi Lahren, whether there are any leaders he is looking at for 2028, to which he responded, “It’s funny, As I was, leading up to the White House fight, doing all this media, you know, a lot of the left media was saying to me, ‘So, you’re out of politics after this, right?’ And I can’t remember who it was that I said it to but … I said, ‘I’ve become really close to Rubio.’ We’ve become really close.”
“People are asking me if I’m going to get out of politics when the president leaves and I just said, ‘I’ve become very close to Rubio.’ He and I have become friends,” he emphasized.
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UFC President and CEO Dana White and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio shake hands as htey participate in a Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony at the State Department in Washington, DC, on June 11, 2026. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images)
White said that Rubio “is a great guy, I like him,” adding, “He’s smart, I like the way he handles himself.”
He also said, “I’ve met his sons, and I like his kids and, you know, so, never say never.”
Pressed on whether Rubio is his official pick to succeed Trump as president, White clarified, “I’m not saying I’m picking.” He noted that he also likes Vice President JD Vance, who, alongside Rubio, is a rumored 2028 presidential frontrunner.
“JD is a great guy too,” said White, adding, “It’s a tricky situation, and I don’t know enough about politics to even comment on that, but, yeah, I don’t know, but it’s not a bad thing to have two strong candidates.”
Rubio and Vance are the two Republicans most discussed as possible successors to Trump. While Rubio ran for president in 2016, he has expressed support for Vance, calling him a “close friend” and saying the vice president “would be a great nominee if he decides he wants to do that.”
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Vice President JD Vance speaks during a visit to ALTA Refrigeration Inc., Aug. 21, 2025, in Peachtree City, Georgia. (Brynn Anderson/The Associated Press)
Though White stopped short of issuing a full-throated endorsement of Rubio, his partnership with the State Department through UFC underscores the high regard he appears to have for the secretary.
This is the first time the UFC has entered into such a partnership with the State Department. The NFL, which entered into a similar agreement in January, is the only other major sports organization to have signed such a formal agreement with the department.
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UFC Chief Operating Officer Lawrence Epstein said the league is “thrilled” about the partnership. He said it would allow the State Department and UFC to “work together to build bridges through community engagement.”
“We’re excited to join this program, led by Secretary Rubio, as UFC is a truly global organization with athletes representing 75 countries. We can’t wait to get started later this year,” said Epstein.
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President Donald Trump speaks with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and UFC CEO and President Dana White during UFC 327 at Kaseya Center on April 11, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson – Pool / Getty Images)
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In turn, Rubio spoke very highly of the UFC, saying it “has become a global phenomenon by embracing values that resonate far beyond the Octagon: excellence, discipline, opportunity, and meritocracy.”
The secretary said the State Department is “proud” to launch the sports diplomacy partnership with UFC and to “continue growing the sport of MMA.”
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