Murkowski votes yes on Trump’s budget, then says it’s not ready

The senator who cast the deciding vote on President Donald Trump’s budget and tax package said she hopes the current version does not become law. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said the process to pass it was “awful” and a “frantic rush.”

“My sincere hope is that this is not the final product,” Murkowski said in a statement following the vote. “This bill needs more work across chambers and is not ready for the President’s desk. We need to work together to get this right.”

“While we have worked to improve the present bill for Alaska, it is not good enough for the rest of our nation—and we all know it,” Murkowski added.

The deciding vote

According to reports, Murkowski decided to vote in favor of the so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill” on Tuesday, July 1. Without her vote, the package would have failed 49-51. With Murkowski’s support, the Senate tied 50-50, allowing Vice President JD Vance to cast the deciding vote.

Senate Republican leadership persuaded Murkowski by allocating extra funding for the SNAP food assistance program to Alaska (and Hawaii). She said Alaska would also receive hundreds of millions of dollars for hospitals, community health centers and other healthcare providers through a $50 billion rural health fund.

“My goal throughout the reconciliation process has been to make a bad bill better for Alaska, and in many ways, we have done that,” Murkowski stated.

Republicans also tried to add a special Medicaid provision specific to Alaska, but it was taken out.

“We found out that Senate Democrats successfully fought a provision that the Senate Republicans were using to try and get Senator Murkowski’s vote,” Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said. “The Medicaid provision in question was a handwritten parenthetical notation, not even disclosed to the Dems, that [likely] created a special new preference for Alaska. We fought and we won. This is a polar payoff, and it should not have stood—and it didn’t.”

Tax cuts, Medicaid slash and border wall funds

The tax and budget package:

• Renews President Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, set to expire at the end of the year.
• Increases the state and local tax deduction from $10,000 per year to $40,000.
• Increases annual child tax credit to $2,200.
• Provides Customs and Border Protection with $46.5 billion for the border wall and other infrastructure.
• Gives $153 million to the military to build new ships and create missile defense systems.
• Implements Medicaid work requirements for able-bodied adults who don’t have children.
• Changes the Medicaid state-federal cost share system.

Fifty Republicans voted in favor of the package, and every single Democrat voted against it. Three Republicans – Sens. Susan Collins, Maine, Thom Tillis, N.C., and Rand Paul, Ky.

“Let me say this, on the Republican side, when the bill passed, there was a bit of somberness that I don’t think was expected. And that’s because they knew deep in their hearts how bad this bill is,” Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said.

Democrats said the bill will cause millions of Americans to lose their Medicaid healthcare coverage. They say it will also cut jobs and add $3.3 trillion to the national debt over the next decade.

Republicans said the bill will save the federal government money, spur economic growth and create jobs.

“The American people sent President Trump and Republican majorities to Washington with a clear mandate: secure the border, restore peace through strength and American energy dominance, and give working families and small businesses relief from the Biden economy,” Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a statement. “Our votes today are a step toward fulfilling that duty.”

The bill is now back in the House, where leadership hopes to pass it before the July 4th holiday. A deadline that is becoming increasingly difficult to meet as Republicans in the chamber express opposition to changes made in the Senate.