By the slimmest of margins, U.S. Senate Republicans on Tuesday approved President Donald Trump’s massive tax-cut and spending bill, which would increase spending on the military and immigration enforcement, cut taxes, and reduce social safety net programs—all while adding $3.3 trillion to the national debt.
Although several Republicans in the House have already expressed disapproval of certain of the Senate’s measures, the proposal is now headed to the House of Representatives for potential final ratification.
House Speaker Mike Johnson stated that Trump wanted to sign it into law by the July 4 Independence Day holiday.
The bill would increase spending on the military and immigration enforcement, provide new tax incentives for overtime pay and gratuities, and prolong Trump’s 2017 tax cuts.
Additionally, it would eliminate many of Democratic former President Joe Biden’s green-energy incentives and decrease almost $930 billion in expenditures on the Medicaid health program and food assistance for low-income Americans.
The bill would increase the federal government’s self-imposed debt ceiling by $5 trillion, exposing Republican divisions over the rapidly increasing $36.2 trillion national debt. In the upcoming months, Congress must increase the cap to avoid a catastrophic default.
Three Republicans, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine, and Rand Paul of Kentucky, joined all 47 Democrats in voting against the bill, and Vice President JD Vance broke the tie to pass it in a 51-50 vote.
The decision came after an all-night debate during which Republicans argued over the cost of the plan and how it would affect the healthcare system in the United States.
Getting past Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who had indicated she would vote against the package without major changes, was the main goal of the late horse-trading.
Her vote was aided by two measures in the final Senate bill: one that increases food-aid funds for Alaska and several other states, and another that provides $50 billion to assist rural hospitals in adjusting to the massive Medicaid cuts.
FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY IS NOT IT.
Republicans have a 220-212 advantage in the House, so the vote is probably going to be close.
Unless travel plans are disrupted by thunderstorms that have threatened the Washington area, Johnson, the speaker of the House, stated in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity that Republican leadership would try to get the legislation through the Rules Committee on Wednesday morning and get it before the entire House before Friday’s holiday.
“Hopefully we’re voting on this by tomorrow or Thursday at latest, depending on the weather delays and travel and all the rest – that’s the wild card that we can’t control,” Johnson stated.
Trump will be “deeply involved” in persuading House Republicans to endorse the package, a White House official told reporters.
“The bill is excellent. At a gathering in Florida on Tuesday, Trump declared, “There is something for everyone.” “And I think it’s going to go very nicely in the House.”
Several House Republicans have stated that they oppose the Senate version, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects will increase the national debt by $800 billion over the House version. In May, the first version passed with just two votes remaining.
Republicans have found it difficult to strike a balance between moderate lawmakers’ worries that the Medicaid cuts will harm their voters, particularly through service reductions in rural regions, and conservatives’ demands for larger spending cuts to lessen the impact on the budget.
The cost of the Senate version has been attacked by the House Freedom Caucus, a group of conservative hardliners who have threatened to withdraw their support for the tax package on multiple occasions.
Regarding the Senate bill, Republican Representative Chip Roy, a member of the Freedom Caucus, stated, “There are a significant number who are concerned.”
The more drastic Medicaid cuts in the Senate’s bill have drawn criticism from a group of more moderate House Republicans, particularly those who represent lower-income districts.
A few House Republicans from high-tax areas, such as California, New Jersey, and New York, have raised distinct concerns about Republicans and called for a bigger tax relief for state and local tax payments.
The entrepreneur Elon Musk, a former Trump buddy, has also criticized the measure, railing against its exorbitant cost and promising to support candidates running against Republican senators in the midterm elections next year.
It is expected that House Democrats will continue to oppose the plan in agreement. According to House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, “this is the largest assault on American healthcare in history,” he told reporters. “It’s the largest assault on nutrition in American history.”
TIGHTER BENEFITS, IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN, AND TAX BREAKS
According to the Tax Foundation, the wealthiest 1% of American households that make $663,000 or more in 2025 would receive some of the Senate bill’s largest advantages. According to the CBO, the tax cuts in the bill would mostly benefit the wealthy.
The bill’s restriction of eligibility for food and health safety net programs, according to independent analysts, would essentially lower the incomes of low-income Americans and raise their expenses for healthcare and food. Under the Senate bill, the impartial Congressional Budget Office predicted that about 12 million more people would lose their health insurance.
According to nonpartisan economists, the bill’s increase in the national debt essentially transfers wealth from younger to older Americans.
The vote “covered this chamber in shame,” according to Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, who also stated that the bill would be “ripping health care away from millions of Americans, taking the food out of the mouths of hungry kids.”
Republicans have maintained that the Medicaid cuts would simply eliminate “waste, fraud, and abuse” from the system and have dismissed the cost estimate produced by the CBO’s established methodology.
