It’s going to be a long weekend for the senators as tense debates continue on US President Donald Trump’s ambitious bill which, if passed, would make permanent many of the tax cuts from Trump’s first term that would otherwise expire by year’s end if Congress fails to act, resulting in a potential tax increase on Americans.
The tax and spending bill cleared a main procedural step in the US Senate by a close 51-49 tally on Saturday as Republicans used their majorities in the Congress to have it tabled in the White House by July 4. Two Republicans opposed the motion to proceed to debate, joining all Democrats even while Vice President JD Vance was present to act as a tie-breaker if needed.
Trump called the vote clearance a “great victory” and congratulated the Republicans on the task.
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The White House quoted Trump as saying: “Tonight we saw a GREAT VICTORY in the Senate with the “GREAT, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL," but, it wouldn’t have happened without the Fantastic Work of Senator Rick Scott, Senator Mike Lee, Senator Ron Johnson, and Senator Cynthia Lummis. They, along with all of the other Republican Patriots who voted for the Bill, are people who truly love our Country!"
“As President of the USA, I am proud of them all, and look forward to working with them to GROW OUR ECONOMY, REDUCE WASTEFUL SPENDING, SECURE OUR BORDER, FIGHT FOR OUR MILITARY/VETS, ENSURE THAT OUR MEDICAID SYSTEM HELPS THOSE WHO TRULY NEED IT, PROTECT OUR SECOND AMENDMENT, AND SO MUCH MORE. GOD BLESS AMERICA &, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!" Trump, who was at his golf course in Virginia, wrote.
The White House endorsed the bill, saying it reflects the shared priorities of both Congress and the Trump administration.
“Therefore, the Congress should immediately pass this bill and send it to the President’s desk by July 4, 2025 to show the American people that they are serious about ‘promises made, promises kept’," it said. “President Trump is committed to keeping his promises, and failure to pass this bill would be the ultimate betrayal."
The 940-page bill seeks to lower federal taxes, end taxation on tips and overtime, scrap green energy tax credits that were passed during Biden’s era, fund mass deportations, pump USD 350 billion into Pentagon and border security agencies and downsize government’s safety-net programmes like Medicaid.
Top Democrat, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, said cutbacks to Medicaid, food stamps and green energy investments would be a “death sentence” for America's wind and solar industries.
Billionaire Elon Musk, who has been vehemently opposing the bill, lashed out, calling the package “utterly insane and destructive.” “The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country!” the former top Trump aide said in a post.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York accused Republicans of rushing through the bill “in the dead of night” before the public fully knows what’s in it.
If the Senate is able to pass it, the bill would go back to the House for a final round of votes before it could reach the White House.
Schumer is expected to call for a full reading of the text in the Senate, which might take hours.
With the narrow Republican majorities in the House and Senate, leaders need almost every lawmaker on board in the face of unified opposition from Democrats.
Earlier, three Republican Senators – Thorn Tillis, Rand Paul and Ron Johnson – had voted against the procedural vote on the bill.
Trump took to Truth Social to attack Tillis, saying the North Carolina senator “is making a BIG MISTAKE.”
Tillis, who said he spoke with Trump late Friday explaining his concerns, announced Saturday he cannot support the package as is, largely because he said the health care changes would force his state to “make painful decisions like eliminating Medicaid coverage for hundreds of thousands.”
Republicans have been quickly revising the proposals and reinstating them.
The new version extends the start date for cuts to the Medicaid and establishes a USD 25 billion fund to aid rural hospitals and providers. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who had opposed the cuts, vowed “to do everything I can” to make sure the reductions never go into effect.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has said that under the House-passed version of the bill, some 10.9 million more people would go without health care and at least 3 million fewer would qualify for food aid.
Top income-earners would see about a USD 12,000 tax cut under the House bill, while the package would cost the poorest Americans USD 1,600, the CBO said.
Meanwhile, Trump has told Republicans to skip their holiday vacations and deliver the bill by July 4. However, with Democrats demanding an out-loud hearing of the document, it is expected that the debate would be delayed by 12 to 15 hours, according to the New York Post.
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