Senate OKs Trump bill, House showdown looms

The US Senate passed President Donald Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" on Tuesday in a razor-thin 51-50 vote, with Vice-President JD Vance casting the tiebreaker, pushing the flagship second-term legislation one step closer to becoming law.

The vote in the Senate, following a 24-hour session of amendments, marked a significant victory for Trump's agenda but set the stage for a contentious battle in the House as a July 4 deadline set by Trump looms.

The OBBBA, a comprehensive package extending the 2017 tax cuts, slashing social programs like Medicaid and boosting funds for border security, passed the Senate after intense negotiations. Senate Majority Leader John Thune navigated a delicate path, securing support from holdouts like Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who won a doubled $50 billion rural hospital fund to offset Medicaid cuts and exempting her state from strict new food stamp rules for two years, according to CNN and CNBC. "I struggled mightily with the Medicaid impacts," Murkowski told reporters on Tuesday, citing concerns over Alaska's rural healthcare.

The Senate's version of OBBBA diverges from the one passed by the House on May 22. Key changes include raising the state and local tax deduction cap to $40,000 through 2029, easing concerns from blue-state Republicans, and softening cuts to green energy tax credits, per NPR. As CBS News reported, the bill also axes a proposed tax on litigation finance and relaxes restrictions on wind and solar projects, addressing industry pushbacks.

Republican senators celebrated the Senate's passage of Trump's bill. Senators from North Dakota and Montana, including John Hoeven, Kevin Cramer, Steve Daines and Tim Sheehy, broadly praised the legislation for delivering on key priorities, such as making the 2017 tax cuts permanent, securing the border, strengthening the military and boosting American energy. Cramer called the vote "a decisive step toward implementing President Trump's agenda and restoring some fiscal sanity to Washington, DC," while Sheehy added that the bill "delivers huge wins for working-class families across the country and revives the American Dream."

Elon Musk, a former Trump ally and ex-head of the Department of Government Efficiency, said the OBBBA would massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit, and he threatened to fund primary challenges against Republicans who supported it. Musk also threatened on June 30 to launch a new "American Party" if the bill passed.

In response, Trump escalated tensions by talking about deporting Musk and threatening to scrutinize federal subsidies for Musk's companies, including SpaceX and Tesla. On Tuesday, Trump targeted him on Truth Social, suggesting Musk might receive more subsidies "than any human being in history, by far," and that cutting his companies' funding "would save a FORTUNE." Trump later added a pointed warning, saying, "DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon."

Democrats remain unified in opposition. "This is not a 'big, beautiful bill' at all. That's why I moved down the floor to strike the title. It is now called 'the act'. That's what it's called. But it is really the 'big ugly betrayal', and the American people know it," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday. "This vote will haunt our Republican colleagues for years to come. Because of this bill, tens of millions will lose health insurance. Millions of jobs will disappear. People will get sick and die, kids will go hungry and the debt will explode to levels we have never seen," Schumer told reporters. Senator Ron Wyden on Tuesday condemned the bill, writing on X: "In the end, billionaire political donors want a return on their investment, and Trump and Republicans are giving it to them with trillions in new handouts. The rest of us will suffer for it. The United States will be a weaker, sicker and poorer country because of this bill."

The Congressional Budget Office estimated several days ago that the Senate bill will add $3.3 trillion to the federal deficit by 2034, leaving 11.8 million Americans uninsured, a figure disputed by Republicans. "The CBO underestimates the economic growth this bill will unleash," Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo said in a June 27 statement, pointing to a projected 1.2 percent GDP boost, per the Tax Foundation.

House Speaker Mike Johnson now faces a challenge of internal anger among his members over the Senate's version. The Senate's tweaks may alienate fiscal conservatives like Representative Chip Roy, who opposed green energy provisions, NPR noted. "We knew the Senate would amend the House product. I encouraged them to amend it as lightly as possible. They went a little further than many of us would have preferred," Johnson told the media on Tuesday.

"We'll move swiftly to pass the bill and deliver Trump's America First agenda by July 4," Johnson said in a statement on Tuesday, however.

The bill's fate hinges on the House, where Johnson's slim 220-212 majority leaves little room for error. A Wednesday vote is tentatively planned, per Axios. If the Senate's version passes, Trump could sign it by July 4, fulfilling one of his campaign pledges.

yifanxu@chinadailyusa.com