WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Republicans in the U.S. Senate are working to revise President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and spending bill after a nonpartisan referee ruled that some elements do not comply with the complex rules they are using to bypass Democrats’ objections.
Here are some of the provisions that Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth McDonough has ruled out of bounds, according to Democratic lawmakers:
HEALTHCARE
* Limiting or denying Medicaid coverage for some non-citizenimmigrants * Limiting Affordable Care Act healthcare subsidies for somenon-citizen immigrants * Prohibiting Medicaid funding for hormone therapy andother “gender affirming care” for transgender patients. * Limiting state “provider taxes” that boost federalMedicaid contributions * Eliminating Affordable Care Act subsidies to healthcareplans that cover abortion
IMMIGRATION
* Limiting grants to “sanctuary cities” that do notcooperate with federal immigration enforcement * Giving local officials the power to arrest immigrantssuspected of being in the country illegally * Allowing states to conduct border security and immigrationenforcement
COURTS
* Limiting federal courts’ power to block governmentpolicies by requiring challengers to post a bond
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
* Exempting offshore oil and gas projects from environmentalreview under the National Environmental Policy Act * Mandating sale of millions of acres of public landcontrolled by the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of LandManagement * Allowing natural gas exporters to pay a fee to overcome ahurdle in the approval process * Removing the Secretary of the Interior’s discretion toreduce fees for solar and wind projects on public land
FINANCIAL REGULATION
* Eliminating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau * Reducing pay of Federal Reserve staff * Cutting $293 from the Fed’s Office of Financial Research * Eliminating Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
STUDENT AID
* Denying federal student aid for some non-citizenimmigrants * Consolidating student loan repayment programs * Expanding Pell Grants to programs at unaccredited andfor-profit schools
FOOD
* Requiring states to cover more of the cost of theSupplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Republicans say theyhave won approval to keep this provision in the bill after theyrevised it to give states more flexibility. * Barring many immigrants from SNAP
GOVERNMENT
* Reducing retirement benefits for new hires unless theyagree to reduced employment protections * Imposing a $350 fee for federal employees to file a casewith a board that enforces civil-service protections * Establishing an incentive program for federal employees toidentify “unnecessary expenditures” * Charging employee unions a fee for use of official timeand agency resources by labor representatives * Requiring the U.S. Postal Service to sell its electricalvehicles and infrastructure * Prohibiting agencies from creating or administering anyregulations that cost or raise money if they are not authorizedby law * $250 million to repair a Coast Guard pier in Texas * $85 million to transfer a Space Shuttle from theSmithsonian to a nonprofit in Houston.
(Reporting by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Scott Malone and Alistair Bell)
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