'When Do You Expect The Final Vote To Be And Will It Pass?': Britt Pressed Over Big Beautiful Bill

Forbes Breaking News

During an Appearance on CNN's "State of the Union", Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) spoke to Jake Tapper about the Senate version of the "Big, Beautiful Bill," after it cleared its first vote in the Senate.

Transcript

00:00Mike Johnson said about 85% of this bill is the House bill. We have been working on this, Jake,

00:05since September, tirelessly thinking about what we would do when we took control. We've had over

00:1150, 51 meetings about this. These different provisions that have been put out, as they've

00:16been put out, we've been reading, we've been talking, we've been figuring out how we can

00:19make them best for the American people, because at the end of the day, we know we have to deliver

00:23results. President Trump ran on this. He said we are going to change America for the better.

00:28We're going to make sure that hardworking people can keep more of their money. We're going to make

00:32sure that we have secure borders, not just now, but for generations to come. We're going to make

00:36sure that we have a strong national defense so that our warfighter is the best trained, equipped,

00:40and ready across the planet. We're going to unleash American energy, and we're going to make sure that

00:44people who have been unseen are seen. We want to make sure that these programs are available for

00:50the people who need them, and we want to make sure that people who are working know that we see them

00:53and that they have a greater opportunity to achieve the American dream, and that's what this bill does.

00:57So this bill, when do you expect the final vote to be, and will it pass?

01:01Yeah, so right now, obviously, you see Senator Schumer having the entire bill read,

01:06so clerks actually have to do that for the people who are watching this, so they're doing that all

01:09through the night, and then they'll be doing that probably for, I think they're about halfway

01:13through now, so we're looking if current pace continues, probably finishing about 3 o'clock.

01:19After that, Jake, we will move into debate. Democrats will have 10 hours. Republicans will have 10 if

01:24they so choose. I would assume Democrats take all 10 of their hours. Republicans may take a few

01:28to continue to make the case for this great piece of legislation, and then after that, we'll start

01:35voting. So I will actually be in the chair tonight. I am signed up between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m.,

01:42so if anyone is bored or needs an opportunity to put themselves to sleep, C-SPAN 2. But I'd imagine

01:48if it currently tracks, that's likely when we'll start voting on amendments, and amendments will

01:52come from both sides, Jake, and actually, there is no limit to how many people can bring, so I think

01:57you'll see some fruitful debate on the floor, and we'll see what we ultimately end up with.

02:02Probably a vote on Monday, you think?

02:03I would think so.

02:04Right. So there is some criticism of what's in this bill from Republicans, too, not just from

02:10Democrats. As you know, Alaska Senator Murkowski only voted to proceed with debate after Senate

02:16leaders exempted Alaska from key Medicaid and food stamp provisions in the bill. North Carolina's Tom

02:23Tillis voted no because he said he's worried about the Medicaid provision adjustments, cuts will cost

02:28his state tens of billions of dollars. Missouri's Josh Hawley voted for it, but is trying to

02:34delay some of the Medicaid provisions, and he says that the GOP, quote, can't be cutting

02:39health care for working people and for poor people in order to constantly give special

02:43tax treatment to corporations. That's a lot of pushback from within your own party.

02:48Look, I would absolutely agree with that, and that's exactly what we're trying to achieve.

02:52We want hardworking Americans to keep more of their taxpayer dollars, and we also want to make

02:57sure that these programs are alive and well for the people that they were intended for.

03:00I mean, if you think about it, Jake, the entitlement spending in this nation is absolutely out of

03:05control. You can rewind back to the 1960s when actual mandatory spending, which is what these

03:11entitlements are, only made up about a third of federal spending. Now, if you take that plus the

03:16interest on our debt, it's about 73 percent of what we spend. We are spending at a rate that we cannot

03:22continue, and ultimately that means that these programs would one day be insolvent for the very

03:27people that need them. We're trying to make structural reforms that make these programs

03:31stronger and make them be able to actually last and be there for the people who need that

03:37assistance. We want these to be, we want them to be safety nets, not hammocks that people stay in,

03:41but getting people on their feet so that they can achieve the American dream. That's what they

03:45were intended for, and, Jake, that's what we have an obligation to do is preserve them for the very

03:50people who they were meant to serve.

03:52Let's talk about them in terms of your constituents, because there are about 760,000 Alabamans who rely

03:56on Medicaid. The bill will also cut federal funding for food stamps. It will require states to kick in

04:02more and shift a lot of that cost to Alabama, and that's more than 750,000 Alabamans who rely on

04:09what we're going to call food stamps, including 330,000 children. So are you guaranteeing that these

04:17changes that you were voting for Monday, presumably, will not hurt recipients in Alabama of Medicaid,

04:26of food stamps or SNAP for those who are citizens and for those who truly need it and deserve it?

04:33Absolutely. So when you look at Medicaid, children, obviously, we have the Children's Health

04:37Insurance Program. So children are absolutely not touched by this. Same thing when it comes to SNAP

04:43benefits. So we've made sure that that is taken off the table. What you're talking about is

04:48abled-bodied, working-aged Americans without dependents at home, having them work, train,

04:53volunteer in some capacity 20 hours a week in order to receive those government benefits.

04:58This goes back to Bill Clinton era politics. When you know that being a part of something bigger than

05:04yourselves, helping to contribute is ultimately what we need to do. And it's actually the American

05:08people agree with us on this. But when you look at what's happening in Alabama specifically,

05:13you know, you think about what you mentioned with regards to SNAP. What we're doing on that

05:18is ensuring that states have some skin in the game. If you have an error rate that is down below 6%,

05:23which Alabama is about a percentage point, a little bit over that, above that, we will have time,

05:29we have several years to make sure that we get that percentage point down. And I have every faith and

05:33belief that we will. We've got to make sure that these overpayments, underpayments that are happening,

05:37we've seen it in our own state where people's benefits are being stolen from other states,

05:42that that stuff stops. If states, obviously, under the Biden administration, we stopped that

05:47accountability during for the SNAP program, reinstituting it and ensuring that states have

05:53some skin in the game will ultimately help us be able to deliver these resources and services that

05:57these people so desperately need. Yeah, I mean, I've heard your fellow Senator Tuberville talk about he's

06:01worried that your state can't afford it, your state can't afford to pick up the slack.

06:05What we can afford to do is get it right. And so if you think about moving that percentage rate down,

06:10right now, states have no incentive to actually get it right, to do the numbers, to check them.

06:15And if you think about that, nobody across the country wants a state to be able to freeload.

06:20You ultimately have some states that have over a high over a 60% error rate in this. We've got to get

06:26it right because we have to preserve these programs. If you go back to this entitlement spending,

06:30we want it to be there for the people who need it most. The rate in which we're spending now,

06:35there's no way that it will be. And so we're ensuring that states have some skin in the game

06:39and there's some accountability for them actually making sure that those payments go to the people

06:43who need them.

Category

Transcript

Recommended