U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley talks negotiations on ‘big beautiful bill,’ Ukraine and tariffs

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley on Monday said the process of the U.S. Senate putting together its version of the "big beautiful bill" is just beginning, but that the Senate hopes to send the president a bill by July 4.

The Iowa Republican said he thinks what the Senate puts together on the budget bill will be "similar to what passed the House of Representatives, but it won't be exactly the same."

"But we have to remember that the House passed it just by a one-vote margin," Grassley said. "So, it's got to pass the House again, so that's got to be part of our consideration."

Last week, Grassley said he would put himself into the category of "people that say we aren't cutting enough" through the spending bill.

"But I'm not going to be so adamant about it that I'm going to say that the bill shouldn't pass even the way it is," Grassley said in a May 28 call.

He said changes he would appreciate would be on biofuels, parts of the Inflation Reduction Act and further reducing spending.

Answering a question Monday about concerns with the country's deficit, he said he does not want to see changes to the tax provisions of the bill.

"I think we have to reauthorize the 2017 tax bill pretty much like it is," Grassley said. "... We may make a few changes on it, but I think my answer to your question is I wouldn't say that I'd be making those changes because of the deficit or because of what impact it might have on the bond market because I think if we don't pass the bill and extend the 2017 tax bill beyond December 31 it's going to make the economy worse off than any specific changes we might make in the 2017 tax bill."

U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, of Florida, and Sen. Rand Paul, of Kentucky have both visited Iowa in the past week. Both senators said they would hold out to see a bill with further cuts than the House bill delivered. Paul said he was a "no" until lawmakers separate a vote on the debt ceiling; Scott said he wanted to see a balanced budget.

Grassley: Tariff changes causing uncertainty

On tariffs, Grassley said there are serious negotiations ongoing with several countries and there are more countries that want to negotiate with the U.S. He said he hopes agreements can soon be reached, which he thinks will bring stability to the economy so businesses can better plan their decisions.

"I think the best thing that the president could do is bring some certainty to the economy because all the talk about tariffs going up and going down and being delayed is uncertainty that hurts the economy," Grassley said.

On the Russia-Ukraine war, Grassley repeated the pleas he's made on X for Donald Trump to be more forceful with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"I feel that it's time for the president to put greater sanctions on," Grassley said. "I thought that would be last week. He (Trump) said he's going to wait a couple weeks to make a decision because he thinks things are getting close."