Republicans are still aiming to pass their tax cut, energy and border security megabill by Independence Day, but a list of unresolved issues and scrutiny from the Senate parliamentarian are threatening their plans.
Among the matters up for discussion are whether to mandate the sale of public lands across several states and the fate of energy tax credits from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
President Donald Trump weighed in on that dispute over the weekend, but his continued hostility to incentives for wind, solar, hydrogen and other sources is unlikely to deter lawmakers in both the House and Senate pushing for more leniency.
“I HATE ‘GREEN TAX CREDITS’ IN THE GREAT, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL. They are largely a giant SCAM. I would much prefer that this money be used somewhere else, including reductions. ‘Anywhere’ would be preferable!” the president wrote on Truth Social.
“Windmills, and the rest of this ‘JUNK,’ are the most expensive and inefficient energy in the world, is destroying the beauty of the environment, and is 10 times more costly than any other energy. None of it works without massive government subsidy (energy should NOT NEED SUBSIDY!). Also, it is almost exclusively made in China!!! It is time to break away, finally, from this craziness!!!”
Shortly after that post, longtime wind backer Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) wrote on X, “Iowans get 60% of their electricity from wind energy. It’s an important tool for America’s energy independence &2 keep Iowans’ utility bills low.”
As deliberations continue ahead of an expected full Senate vote — including another amendment vote-a-rama — groups and companies are continuing their lobbying blitz.
The Geothermal Exchange Organization urged Senate Finance Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) in a new letter to extend the residential energy saving tax credit for geothermal heat pumps.
“This credit supports energy infrastructure that strengthens grid reliability, reinforces domestic supply chains, and sustains a skilled U.S. workforce (including drillers and heavy equipment operators) while ensuring the United States, not China, leads in data center expansion and AI deployment,” wrote the group’s president, Ryan Dougherty.
More senators against land sales
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chair Mike Lee (R-Utah) has been adamant about including public land sales in the budget reconciliation package over vocal opposition from members of the Montana delegation.
Lee may have left Montana out of the latest language, but that may not be enough to secure victory. The Idaho Statesman and Lewiston Tribune reported over the weekend that both Crapo and GOP Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho were against public land sales in the megabill.
“After a careful and thorough review of the legislative text in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee reconciliation title, Senator Crapo does not support the proposed language to sell public lands,” communications director Melanie Lawhorn wrote in a statement to the newspapers.
Lee’s proposal calls for the sale of up to 1.5 percent of the federal estate across 11 states. Protected areas would be exempt, and local leaders would be able to propose plots.
A new draft obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News last week said land owned by the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service would be sold only for “the development of housing or to address associated infrastructure to support local housing needs.” Environmental groups have alleged that other changes in the latest draft would open up even more lands for sale.
Responding to criticism, Lee has noted that the bill exempts national parks, national monuments, wilderness areas, national recreation areas and 11 other categories of federally protected land.
Lee also told conservative podcaster Glenn Beck last week that objections to the land sales were “falsehoods being circulated by the left.” He called the sales “a commonsense solution to a national problem.”
Yet on Sunday evening, Lee suggested even more changes were coming, writing on X: “Hunter Nation: You spoke, and I’m listening. I’ll be making changes in the coming days.”
Flurry of parliamentarian rulings
The Senate parliamentarian — the referee of the budget reconciliation process, increasingly used by both parties to approve legislation without a filibuster-proof majority — has made numerous rulings both for and against megabill provisions.
Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled against language that would make it harder for groups and individuals to sue the administration. She also disqualified a provision against government settlement agreements with money going to third parties, according to a release from Democrats over the weekend.
The parliamentarian, according to information release late Sunday night, ruled against language to fund federal reorganization plans and to prohibit agencies from enforcing rules with spending impacts that are not explicitly called for in law. The language was part of a push by conservatives to limit federal rulemaking powers through reconciliation.
She also said a provision to mandate the sale of Postal Service electric vehicles and associated infrastructure did not meet budget reconciliation requirements.
Last week, MacDonough said language against EPA tailpipe emissions standards for passenger vehicle model years 2027 or later did not have enough of a budgetary nexus.
She also ruled against a part of a provision allowing companies to get faster National Environmental Policy Act permits and some litigation exemptions if they pay a certain amount. MacDonough singled out the litigation portion and other similar permitting provisions appear to remain in play.
MacDonough cleared Republicans clawing back spending from the Inflation Reduction Act but said repealing the underlying law would not conform with budget reconciliation.
The parliamentarian also approved contentious language that would enact a 10-year moratorium on state regulation of artificial intelligence. States that defy the federal government stand to lose aid.
Other loose ends
It’s unclear whether the Senate will move forward with a House fee on electric vehicles and hybrids. Last week Ohio Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno, who supports the idea, said lawmakers were having trouble making it work.
“There is no mechanism today for the federal government to collect an annual fee. Doesn’t exist,” he said.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is looking to craft a final bill that can pass both chambers with tight Republican majorities. Not doing so would make it all but impossible for Trump to sign it by July 4.
The House approved its version of the megabill, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” in May after limited floor debate. But the budget reconciliation process — meant to bypass the filibuster — requires the Senate to go through days of debate and amendment votes before a bill can pass.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) last week warned that Senate language related to Medicaid would lead to protracted negotiations between the chambers.
“I don’t know why we would pass something that the House can’t pass and will force us into [a] conference,” Hawley said.
Reporters Kelsey Brugger, Christa Marshall, Garrett Downs, Andres Picon and Jordain Carney contributed.
