Following lengthy negotiations, Senate Republicans have narrowly approved Donald Trump’s extensive tax and spending bill, a significant step in advancing the proposed legislation.
The One Big Beautiful Bill was passed after more than 24 hours of discussions, with Vice President JD Vance casting a decisive tie-breaking vote. It is now set to return to the House of Representatives, where it may encounter further resistance. House Republicans narrowly approved an earlier iteration by just one vote.
Trump set July 4 as the deadline for the Republican-controlled Congress to deliver a final version of the bill for his signature.
However, disagreements over the deficit, social programs, and funding amounts could result in delays. On Tuesday morning, the president acknowledged that meeting the deadline would be “very hard.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune faced setbacks when three Republicans—Susan Collins of Maine, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, and Rand Paul of Kentucky—joined all Democrats in voting against the bill.
Republican leadership managed to secure support from Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, who had previously expressed reservations about the legislation. This led to a final Senate vote result of 50-50, necessitating Vance’s tie-breaking vote.
The bill, deemed a key component of Trump’s second-term agenda, aims to permanently establish the large tax cuts that were temporarily enacted during his first term. To offset the anticipated revenue losses, Republicans are considering reductions in various programs, including food assistance and healthcare for low-income individuals.
The vote happened Tuesday morning, wrapping up an intense voting period on Capitol Hill.
Democrats sought to assert their influence by implementing procedural barriers to delay the bill’s progress. This included requiring Senate clerks to read all 940 pages of the bill aloud and initiating a lengthy debate on the proposed.
Now, House Republicans must ratify the Senate’s changes before the president can enact the bill into law. Nonetheless, its future is uncertain as it faces opposition from multiple sides.
A faction of fiscally conservative Republicans has expressed concerns about the potential increase in the US national deficit, which is defined as the gap between government spending and revenue each year.
Members of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus stated that the Senate proposal could increase the annual deficit by $650 billion (£472 billion). “That’s not fiscal responsibility,” they declared in a social media post on Monday. It’s not what we agreed upon.”
Meanwhile, other House Republicans are worried that the Senate’s proposal might impose deeper cuts to the Medicaid program than they had initially been sanctioned.
Democrats in both the House and Senate have criticised the proposed cuts to welfare.
Among the plan’s detractors is tech billionaire Elon Musk, who previously supported Trump’s victory and acted as Trump’s cost-cutting advisor. Musk is attempting to derail Trump’s signature legislation and has threatened to form a new political party if it passes through Congress. On Monday, he warned that he would support challengers against Republicans who endorse it.
