WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans were battling President Donald Trump’s massive tax break and spending reduction measure against growing Democratic resistance and even some brake-pumping over the president’s budget cuts as the Senate debate continued late into the night.
Overnight voting has been postponed until Monday, and the Senate’s work this weekend is still unknown and quite turbulent. In a heated scene, GOP leaders are scrambling to pass the package by Trump’s Fourth of July deadline, but they haven’t managed to garner enough support to get it past a procedural obstacle on Saturday night. It required phone calls from Trump and a visit from Vice President JD Vance to keep it on course after a few Republican holdouts rebelled.
After being pressed by Trump for stating that he could not support the bill due to its drastic Medicaid cuts, Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina declared on Sunday that he will not run for reelection. According to a recent analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, which was then nonpartisan, if the measure were to become law, 11.8 million more Americans would lack health insurance by 2034. Additionally, it stated that over the course of ten years, the plan would raise the deficit by almost $3.3 trillion.
However, other Republicans in the Senate and conservatives in the House are calling for more drastic cuts, especially in the health care sector, after receiving an unexpected warning from Trump.
Don’t lose your mind! Social media posts were made by the president. Remember that you need to be reelected.
All things considered, the Senate bill includes almost $4 trillion in tax cuts, including the new ones that Trump campaigned on, like no tip taxes, and permanentizing the rates from 2017, which will expire at the end of the year if Congress does nothing.
The Senate measure would eliminate billions in green energy tax credits, which Democrats say will eliminate wind and solar investments across the country. It would also inflict $1.2 trillion in cutbacks, mostly to food stamps and Medicaid, by tightening eligibility rules and implementing work requirements.
The package would also fund $350 billion for border and national security, including deportations, with some of that money coming from new fees that immigrants would have to pay.
The bill would have to go back to the House if it could pass the Senate.Lawmakers have been instructed by Speaker Mike Johnson to be ready to return to Washington this week.
Democrats ready to fight all night
As the minority party in Congress, the Democrats are unable to halt the 940-page bill’s progress and are utilizing all of their resources to prolong and postpone the process.
Democrats made people read the entire document, which took almost sixteen hours. Then, with Republicans mostly stepping aside, senators took up the debate and filled the chamber with speeches.
Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan called it careless and reckless. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders called it a gift to the wealthiest class.
The Republicans’ accounting approach, which maintains that the tax breaks from Trump’s first term are now standard policy and that the expense of extending them shouldn’t be included in deficit calculations, particularly alarmed Sen. Patty Murray, the ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Committee.
According to Murray, the longest-serving Democrat on the Budget Committee, “things have never worked this way in my 33 years here in the United States Senate.”
She claimed that Americans attempting to balance their own household budgets would not be amenable to that sort of magic math.
“Try that game with your constituents back home,” she advised. People who have too pricey health care still need to be kicked off. In order to save expenses, we still need to close certain hospitals. Additionally, because the debt is out of control, we still have to remove people from SNAP.
Sanders claimed that Tillis’ choice to not run for reelection demonstrates the power of Trump’s cult of personality inside the Republican Party.
Sanders claimed that while providing tax incentives to Jeff Bezos and other rich billionaires, we are really removing food from the mouths of poor children.
GOP leaders unfazed
Despite a string of political and policy failures, Republicans have shown no signs of giving up and are leveraging their majorities to push aside Democratic opposition.
The head of the Budget Committee, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., declared, “We’re going to pass the big, beautiful bill.”
Given their slim majorities, the recalcitrant Republicans are still unwilling to cast ballots, and their leaders are practically at a loss for options. In essence, assuming every member is present and voting, they can afford three dissidents in the Senate, which has a 53-47 GOP advantage, and roughly the same number in the House.
Trump maintained the pressure on lawmakers to complete, even if he occasionally gave them leeway in his timeline.
He threatened to run against Tillis, who was concerned that his state’s Medicaid cuts would deprive many people of access to healthcare. On Sunday morning, Trump persecuted Tillis once more, accusing the senator of harming the wonderful people of North Carolina.
In a long statement later on Sunday, Tillis declared he would not run for reelection in 2026.
Tillis expressed his opinions in a passionate evening speech, contending that the Senate’s strategy betrays Trump’s pledge to keep people’s access to healthcare.
He thundered, “We could take our time to get this right.” But he indicated he will continue to oppose until then.
Democrats can t filibuster, but can stall
The Republicans can count on a simple majority vote in the Senate instead of the usual 60-vote barrier required to overcome opposition by using a congressional mechanism known as budget reconciliation.
Democrats have found alternative ways to voice their concerns in the absence of the filibuster.
The first is reading the entire legislative language, which has been done before. Additionally, Democrats planned to utilize all ten hours of their allotted debating time, which was already in progress.
Then, in a procedure known as “vote-a-rama,” Democrats are ready to suggest dozens of changes to the package. Republicans, however, delayed the anticipated midnight session until early Monday.
GOP senators to watch
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, was the focus of intense conversation among GOP leaders as Saturday’s vote count teetered. She cast a yes vote.
While some of the elements in the package were created specifically for her state of Alaska, others did not adhere to the stringent guidelines set forth by the Senate lawmaker.
Holdouts Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Mike Lee of Utah, and Rick Scott of Florida were summoned to Majority Leader John Thune’s office shortly after. Vance added his voice.
“We all want to get to yes,” Scott added later.
