2017: Cornyn Voted For The GOP FY 2018 Budget Resolution, Which Started The Process Towards Tax Reform And Called For Cutting Medicare By $473 Billion. In October 2017, Cornyn voted for a budget resolution that would have, according to The Hill, “The spending blueprint is key to Republicans’ efforts to pass tax reform because it includes instructions that will allow the plan to avoid a Democratic filibuster. […] The budget, meant to outline spending for the fiscal year, was widely viewed as a mere vehicle for passing tax reform. […] The budget would allow the Senate GOP’s tax plan to add up to $1.5 trillion to the deficit over a decade, a proposal that has raised concerns with fiscal hawks in the GOP. Its instructions call for the Senate Finance Committee to report a tax bill by Nov. 13. Still, the document outlines the Senate GOP’s political vision. It maintains spending at 2017 levels for the year, but would then cut nondefense spending in subsequent years, leading to a $106 billion cut in 2027. It would also allow defense levels to continue rising at their current rates, reaching $684 billion at the end of a decade. The resolution also proposes $473 billion in cuts to Medicare’s baseline spending over a decade and about $1 trillion from Medicaid, though those provisions are not enforceable without additional legislation.” The vote was on passage. The Senate agreed to the budget by a vote of 51 to 49. The House later passed the budget resolution. [Senate Vote 245, 10/19/17; The Hill, 10/19/17; Congressional Actions, H. Con. Res. 71]
2017: Cornyn Voted For $473 Billion In Medicare Cuts. In October 2017, Cornyn voted against an amendment that would have eliminated the $473 billion in Medicare cuts found in the underlying budget resolution. According to a floor speech by Sen. Nelson (D-FL), “Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, before Medicare, one-half of senior citizens in this country did not have any healthcare, health insurance. Medicare changed that. So why in the world would we want to cut $473 billion from Medicare? It does not make sense. My amendment simply restores that cut and replaces it with eliminating a number of tax loopholes. It is a simple amendment. Save Medicare.” The underlying legislation was the FY 2018 Senate budget resolution that set up reconciliation instructions for tax reform. The vote was on the amendment. The Senate rejected the amendment by a vote of 47 to 51. [Senate Vote 222, 10/18/17; Congressional Record, 10/18/17; Congressional Actions, S. Amdt. 1150; Congressional Actions, S. Amdt. 1116; Congressional Actions, H. Con. Res. 71]
2017: Cornyn Effectively Voted For The GOP FY 2018 Budget Resolution, Which Started The Process Towards Tax Reform And Called For Cutting Medicare By $473 Billion. In October 2017, Cornyn effectively voted for a budget resolution that would have, according to The Hill, “The spending blueprint is key to Republicans’ efforts to pass tax reform because it includes instructions that will allow the plan to avoid a Democratic filibuster. […] The budget, meant to outline spending for the fiscal year, was widely viewed as a mere vehicle for passing tax reform. […] The budget would allow the Senate GOP’s tax plan to add up to $1.5 trillion to the deficit over a decade, a proposal that has raised concerns with fiscal hawks in the GOP. Its instructions call for the Senate Finance Committee to report a tax bill by Nov. 13. Still, the document outlines the Senate GOP’s political vision. It maintains spending at 2017 levels for the year, but would then cut nondefense spending in subsequent years, leading to a $106 billion cut in 2027. It would also allow defense levels to continue rising at their current rates, reaching $684 billion at the end of a decade. The resolution also proposes $473 billion in cuts to Medicare’s baseline spending over a decade and about $1 trillion from Medicaid, though those provisions are not enforceable without additional legislation.” The vote was on a motion to invoke cloture on the House GOP budget resolution, setting up a vote on the Senate’s budget resolution. The Senate agreed to the motion by a vote of 50 to 47 The House and the Senate later passed a slightly different version of the budget resolution. [Senate Vote 219, 10/17/17; The Hill, 10/19/17; Congressional Actions, H. Con. Res. 71]
2015: Cornyn Voted To Make $430 Billion In Unexplained Cuts To Medicare, As Part Of The FY 2016 Conference Report Budget Resolution. In May 2015, Cornyn voted for the FY 2016 conference report budget resolution which, according to the Congressional Conference Report, “The agreement proposes the same amount of Medicare savings reflected in the Senate-passed fiscal year 2016 budget as a target to extend the life of the Hospital Insurance trust fund and tasks the committees of jurisdiction in the House and Senate with determining the specific Medicare reforms needed to bring spending levels under current law in line with the budget.” According to Bloomberg, the Senate’s original budget, “avoided a plan to partially privatize Medicare that the U.S. House of Representatives embraced in its budget [and] instead call[ed] for $430 billion in spending cuts without explaining where they would be made.” The vote was on the Conference Report; the Conference Report, which also passed the House, was passed by a vote of 51 to 48. [Senate Vote 171, 5/5/15; Conference Report, 4/29/15; Bloomberg, 3/27/15; Congressional Actions, S. Con. Res. 11]
2015: Cornyn Voted To Make $430 Billion In Unexplained Cuts To Medicare, As Part Of The Senate’s FY 2016 Budget Resolution. In March 2015, Cornyn voted for the Senate’s FY 2016 budget resolution, which, according to Bloomberg, “avoided a plan to partially privatize Medicare that the U.S. House of Representatives embraced in its budget [and] instead call[ed] for $430 billion in spending cuts without explaining where they would be made.” The Senate adopted the budget resolution by a vote of 52 to 46. A final budget resolution included the same unspecified cuts to Medicare. [Senate Vote 135, 3/27/15; Bloomberg, 3/27/15; Congressional Quarterly, 4/30/15; S. Con. Res. 11, 4/7/15; Congressional Actions, S. Con. Res. 11]
2015: Cornyn Voted Against Restoring Roughly $430 Billion In Unexplained Medicare Cuts In Senate Republicans’ FY 2016 Budget. In March 2015, Cornyn voted against an amendment to the Senate’s FY 2016 budget resolution that, according to Sen Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) in the Congressional Record, would have “reject[ed] the $435 billion in Medicare cuts that are in this budget resolution.” The amendment was rejected by a vote of 46 to 54. [Senate Vote 111, 3/26/15; Congressional Record, 3/26/15; Congressional Actions, S. Amdt. 1072; Congressional Actions, S. Con. Res. 11]
2017: Cornyn Effectively Voted Against Requiring 60 Yeas Votes In The Senate To Reduce Medicare Benefits. In January 2017, Cornyn effectively voted against an amendment that would have, according to the text of the amendment, “POINT OF ORDER.—It shall not be in order in the Senate to consider any bill, joint resolution, motion, amendment, amendment between the Houses, or conference report that would— […] (4) result in a reduction of guaranteed benefits for individuals entitled to, or enrolled for, benefits under the Medicare program under title XVIII of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.) […] (b) WAIVER AND APPEAL.—Subsection (a) may be waived or suspended in the Senate only by an affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Members, duly chosen and sworn. An affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Members of the Senate, duly chosen and sworn, shall be required to sustain an appeal of the ruling of the Chair on a point of order raised under subsection (a).” The underlying legislation was an FY 2017 budget resolution designed to being the process of repealing the Affordable Care Act. The vote was on a motion to waive a budget point of order against the amendment. The Senate rejected the motion by a vote of 49 to 49. [Senate Vote 6, 1/9/17; Congressional Record, 1/5/17; Congressional Quarterly, 1/9/17; Congressional Quarterly, 1/10/17; Congressional Actions, S. Amdt. 19; Congressional Actions, S. Con. Res. 3]
2017: Cornyn Effectively Voted Against Requiring A Three-Fifths Senate Vote To Consider Legislation That Would Privatize Medicare. In January 2017, Cornyn effectively voted against an amendment that would have, according to Congressional Quarterly, “ban[ned] legislation from being considered in the Senate that would privatize or raise the eligibility age of Medicare, or that would block grant, impose per capita spending caps, or decrease coverage of Medicaid. The ban would [have] be[en] waived by a three-fifths vote of the Senate.” The underlying legislation was an FY 2017 budget resolution designed to being the process of repealing the Affordable Care Act. The vote was on a motion to waive the budget act in relation to the amendment. The vote required a three-fifths vote for approval. The Senate rejected the motion by a vote of 49 to 47. [Senate Vote 4, 1/9/17; Congressional Quarterly, 1/9/17; Congressional Actions, S. Amdt. 20; Congressional Actions, S. Con. Res. 3]
2017: Cornyn Effectively Voted Against Requiring A Three-Fifths Senate Vote To Consider Legislation That Would Raise The Medicare Eligibility Age. In January 2017, Cornyn effectively voted against an amendment that would have, according to Congressional Quarterly, “ban[ned] legislation from being considered in the Senate that would privatize or raise the eligibility age of Medicare, or that would block grant, impose per capita spending caps, or decrease coverage of Medicaid. The ban would [have] be[en] waived by a three-fifths vote of the Senate.” The underlying legislation was an FY 2017 budget resolution designed to being the process of repealing the Affordable Care Act. The vote was on a motion to waive the budget act in relation to the amendment. The vote required a three-fifths vote for approval. The Senate rejected the motion by a vote of 49 to 47. [Senate Vote 4, 1/9/17; Congressional Quarterly, 1/9/17; Congressional Actions, S. Amdt. 20; Congressional Actions, S. Con. Res. 3]