U.S. Senate Backs Trump's 'great And Wonderful' Bill
- 29.06.2025, 12:00
He had a falling out with Elon Musk over it.
The US Senate backed President Donald Trump's "big and beautiful" bill of sweeping tax and spending cuts in a key vote, triggering a debate procedure. 51 lawmakers voted in favor, 49 senators opposed, Trump administration representatives led by Vice President J.D. Vance had to persuade the waverers for several hours.
Trump's ideas were sharply criticized by his former associate Ilon Musk, Democrats consider them "disproportionately beneficial to the rich" and believe that millions of Americans will be left without health care, and experts predict a rise in the US national debt. Details are reported by Guardian.
"Clearing an important procedural hurdle, the Senate voted 51 to 49 to open debate on the legislation. The Republican-controlled U.S. Senate advanced President Donald Trump's sweeping tax and spending cuts bill in a key procedural vote late Saturday night, raising the likelihood that lawmakers could pass his 'big, beautiful bill' in the coming days," the piece stated.
The publication notes that the aforementioned bill, which Trump badly wants passed, cleared its first procedural hurdle before passage after that vote. Fifty-one senators voted in favor of it, while another 49 (among them two Republicans) voted against it.
And for the sake of this result, Trump's team had to "sweat": Republican leaders and J.D. Vance held closed-door negotiations for several hours in order to get wavering senators on their side.
The measure, Trump's main legislative goal, overcame the first procedural hurdle by 51 votes to 49, with two Republican senators voting against it.
So the procedural vote that kicked off debate on the 940-page mega-legislative bill to fund Trump's top priorities on immigration, borders, tax cuts and military affairs began with hours of delay.
For more than three hours, senators were unable to vote. After all, three Republicans had joined Democrats in opposing the bill, while another three were negotiating with Republican leaders in hopes of securing more spending cuts.
The vote took place when one of the three Republican senators who opposed Trump's bill decided to support it.
The president's "Big, Beautiful" bill would extend the 2017 tax cuts that were Trump's main legislative accomplishment during his first term, cut the Billionaire Elon Musk has come out strongly against it. He most recently denounced the bill on Saturday, June 28.
"The latest Senate bill will destroy millions of American jobs and cause massive strategic damage to our country! Absolute insanity and destruction," Musk commented on Web X on a tweet by a green energy expert who pointed to a planned tax increase on new wind and solar power projects.
Independent analysts estimate that Trump's version of the tax cuts and spending bill would add trillions of dollars to the U.S. national debt, which now tops $36.2 trillion.
Democrats have strongly opposed the bill, saying its tax-cutting elements disproportionately benefit the wealthy by cutting social programs that low-income Americans rely on.
Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, demanded that the bill be read aloud before debate began, saying Senate Republicans were trying to pass a "radical bill."
But Trump is pushing for Congress to pass his "big and beautiful" bill as quickly as possible.
"This bill represents an ambitious but complex list of priorities for the Republican Party. It essentially calls for the permanent implementation of many tax breaks that from Trump's first term would expire by the end of the year unless Congress acts, leading to potential tax increases for Americans. The bill includes new exemptions, such as eliminating tip taxes, and $350 billion for national security, specifically for Trump's mass deportation program. Some lawmakers say the cuts are too big, especially for people who receive health care through Medicaid. Meanwhile, conservatives worried about the country's debt are pushing for even bigger cuts," the Guardian writes.
The publication notes that the final text contains a proposal to cut the Medicaid provider tax, which drew objections and opposition from several senators concerned about rural hospitals. The new version postpones the start date for those cuts and creates a $25 billion fund to help rural hospitals and health care providers.
A majority of states impose the provider tax as a way to increase federal Medicaid reimbursement. Some Republicans say it's a scam and should be repealed.
The independent Congressional Budget Office said the House version of the bill would leave about 10.9 million people without health care and at least 3 million fewer people eligible for food assistance. The Congressional Budget Office has not yet publicly evaluated the Senate draft, which proposes steeper cuts. Under the House bill, the highest earners would get a tax cut of about $12,000, while the poorest Americans would get a package worth $1,600, the Budget Office said.