Megabill questions

Capitol agenda: Crapo to answer big megabill questions

The Senate Finance chair will brief Senate Republicans on his proposals around 6 p.m. Monday.

By Lisa Kashinsky, Jordain Carney and Benjamin Guggenheim

Senate Finance is expected to reveal at least some of its tweaks to the House-passed “big beautiful bill” Monday, but the panel’s text will likely include placeholders for key Medicaid and tax provisions as negotiations continue.

Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) will brief Senate Republicans on his proposals around 6 p.m., three people granted anonymity to share the unannounced plans told POLITICO.

Expect the state-and-local-tax deduction to be one of the TBDs as GOP senators continue to hash out how much they want to roll back the House’s $40,000 SALT cap.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune teased a “compromise position” on SALT in a pre-taped “Fox News Sunday” interview. He said there “isn’t a high level of interest” among senators to follow the House in quadrupling the $10,000 limit that’s in law today.

Thune insisted that President Donald Trump’s tax priorities — no taxes on tips and overtime — will be “incorporated” in the Senate’s version of the megabill, despite Senate Republicans’ desire to trim them in favor of making business tax incentives permanent.

A person granted anonymity to discuss the negotiations tells POLITICO that Senate Republicans still plan to make those business tax provisions permanent — a win for Thune, Crapo and other Finance members.

With the Senate out Thursday and Friday, this shortened week will be key for sending the bill to Trump’s desk by July 4. The Senate parliamentarian will have bipartisan discussions with committees, and staffers anticipate she will start issuing rulings now that nearly every committee has released text.

A few other megabill developments:

— Trump and Rand Paul talk it out: Sen. Rand Paul told NBC News that the two spoke Saturday, after Trump spent weeks attacking the Kentucky Republican for signaling he’d vote against the bill. Paul, who has objected to the bill’s debt ceiling increase, said that he told Trump he’s “not an absolute no” and that the two are “trying to get to a better place in our conversations.” But he also indicated that Republicans are spending little energy in really trying to win him over.

— What Mark Meadows is doing behind the scenes: The former House Freedom Caucus chair and one-time Trump chief of staff is operating as a sounding board for conservatives as they try to hang onto some of their biggest priorities in the megabill. Mark Meadows huddled with House and Senate hard-liners last week and is in regular contact with House Freedom Caucus members.

“Mark is trying to help get a deal done,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) says.