Senate Struggles to Advance Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill
Trump’s sweeping spending bill faces GOP pushback in the Senate over debt, Medicaid cuts, and debt ceiling hikes, risking major revisions.The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the current centerpiece of President Trump’s domestic policy agenda, is facing significant obstacles in the Senate. The bill narrowly passed the House and proposes major tax cuts, increased military and border security funding, and substantial reductions to Medicaid. Republican leaders hope to pass the legislation through the budget reconciliation process, which requires only a simple majority in the Senate. However, with a narrow majority, they cannot afford to lose more than three votes from their own party. Yet, several Republican senators, like Kentucky Senator Rand Paul have already expressed concerns about the bill in its current form.
A key point of contention is the bill’s impact on the national debt. The legislation extends Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and includes a temporary pause on taxes for tips and overtime. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill would add about 3.1 trillion dollars to the debt over ten years, even after accounting for about 1.5 trillion dollars in spending cuts. Some analysts caution that if temporary provisions become permanent, the long-term cost could be much higher and would place the U.S. in a dangerous position in the bond market. Another concerning component of the bill is the prevalence of Medicaid cuts. The bill proposes introducing work requirements, shortening enrollment periods, and eliminating what Republicans describe as waste, fraud, and abuse. While these changes would reduce federal spending by hundreds of billions of dollars, past analyses suggest they could drive up state costs without significantly increasing employment. Medicaid cuts nearly derailed the bill in the House and remain a source of heated debate among Senate Republicans, especially for Missouri Senator Josh Hawley. The bill also includes a 4 trillion dollar increase to the federal debt ceiling. Supporters argue this is necessary to prevent a government default later this year, but fiscal conservatives view the increase as incompatible with a serious effort to control deficits. The size of the debt ceiling hike has added to concerns among Republican senators who are already uneasy about the bill’s overall fiscal impact. Senate rules present another challenge. The Byrd Rule allows senators to remove non-budgetary provisions from reconciliation bills. Measures related to artificial intelligence regulation, judicial power, gun policy, and Planned Parenthood funding could be stripped from the final version. If the Senate makes substantial changes, the revised bill must return to the House for another vote. Republican leaders hope to send the final bill to President Trump by July fourth. However, the deep divisions within the party and the complex legislative process mean that significant changes are likely before the bill reaches the president’s desk. |