The Republican-controlled Senate of the United States has voted to take President Donald Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” into the next phase of discussion.
The measure, which is Trump’s top legislative goal, passed its first procedural hurdle in a 51 to 49 vote, with two Republican Senators joining all Democrats in voting against it.
The result came after several hours of negotiation as Republican leaders and Vice President, JD Vance sought to persuade last-minute holdouts in a series of closed-door negotiations.
The procedural vote, which would start a debate on the megabill, began after hours of delay.
It then remained open for more than three hours of standstill as three Republican Senators – Thom Tillis, Ron Johnson and Rand Paul – joined Democrats to oppose the legislation.
Three others – Senators Rick Scott, Mike Lee and Cynthia Lummis – negotiated with Republican leaders into the night in hopes of securing bigger spending cuts.
In the end, Johnson flipped his no vote to yes, leaving only Paul and Tillis opposed among Republicans.
Nonetheless, Republican leaders must now satisfy numerous holdouts still demanding changes to the bill.
Trump’s multitrillion-dollar bill would lower federal taxes and infuse more money into the Pentagon and border security agencies, while downsizing government safety-net programs including Medicaid.
The spending plan would also roll back many of the tax incentives for renewable energy that were put in place under Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden.
Trump has pushed his party to get the bill passed and on his desk for him to sign into law by July 4, the US’s Independence Day.
The procedural vote allows the Senate to begin debating Trump’s bill, teeing up a final passage vote in that chamber as soon as Monday.
Senate Democrats are now forcing a major delay tactic to slow the chamber’s passage of Trump’s agenda, forcing clerks to spend an estimated 10 to 15 hours reading aloud the entire bill.
After the reading, there would be debate on the bill, followed by a “vote-a-rama” before a vote on final passage.
Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer said that Republicans unveiled the bill “in the dead of night” and are rushing to finish the bill before the public fully knows what is in it.
He immediately forced a full reading of the text in the Senate, which would take an estimated 15 hours.
“Future generations will be saddled with trillions in debt. Debt is abstract, but what does it mean for the average American? Raising your costs, raising your costs to buy a home, raising your costs to buy a car, raising your costs on credit card bills. And why are they doing all this?
“Why are they doing the biggest Medicaid cuts in history? Now it’s getting close to a trillion dollars, just in Medicaid alone, all to cut taxes for the ultra-rich and special interests.”
Chuck Schumer
Trump Hails Republican Senators
In a post on Truth Social, Trump hailed the four key Senators who shifted their votes to get the procedural bill over the finish line.
“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!”
Donald Trump
If passed in the Senate, the bill would go back to the House of Representatives for approval, where Republicans can only afford to lose a handful of votes – and are facing stiff opposition from within their own ranks.
Republicans are split on the Medicaid cuts, which will threaten scores of rural hospitals and lead to an estimated 8.6 million Americans being deprived of healthcare.
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