Donald Trump Urges Senate To Pass His 'Big, Beautiful' Tax & Spending Bill By 4 July, Despite GOP & Democrat Resistance

(MENAFN- Live Mint) US President Donald Trump is urging senators to pass his major tax reform and spending cut bill by 4 July, news wire AP reported. He has been actively lobbying senators, hoping to fast-track the extensive bill through the slow-rolling Senate.

The President's push

Trump has been in direct contact with senators through one-on-one chats, including a meeting with Senate Majority Leader John Thune earlier this week, the AP report said.

The president is actively pushing for a quick vote on the more than 1000-page bill, which narrowly passed the House last month.

A tough road ahead in the Senate

Senators are currently working behind closed doors to revise the massive Republican package. With a slim 53-seat Grand Old Party (GOP) majority, John Thune is facing a challenge in securing enough votes. Democrats are strongly opposing the bill, particularly its proposed cuts in Medicaid, food stamps, and green energy investments, which they argue will help pay for more than USD 4.5 trillion in tax cuts.

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Despite Trump's push, some Republican senators remain unconvinced. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky is a key holdout. Paul opposes the $4 trillion increase to the debt ceiling included in the bill. Trump publicly criticised Paul, but the Senator remains firm in his stance.

The bill attracts criticism

Billionaire Elon Musk has voiced strong opposition to the bill, calling it“this massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill” and a“disgusting abomination,” on X (formerly Twitter). Musk recently stepped down from his“special government employee” position in the Department of Governance (DOGE).

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Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer has slammed the bill as“ugly to its very core”, urging senators to consider Musk's criticism. Schumer argues that the bill provides tax breaks for the ultra-rich by compromising the health care for millions of Americans.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office is expected to release its analysis of the bill's financial impacts soon. But Republicans are ready to blast those findings from the congressional scorekeeper as flawed.

The core of the bill

The bill aims to extend the 2017 tax cuts from Trump's first term and introduce new ones, including no taxes on tips. It also includes a significant $350 billion allocation for border security, deportation and national security.

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To offset the lost tax revenue and avoid increasing the nation's $36 trillion debt, Republicans want to reduce federal spending by imposing work requirements for some Americans who rely on government safety net services. Some estimate that this could lead to 8.6 million losing health care and nearly 4 million losing Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Programme benefits, known as SNAP. The bill would also raise the nation's debt limit by USD 4 trillion to allow more borrowing to pay the bills.

Issues surrounding the bill

The 4 July deadline is not just aspirational for the President but also mandatory for Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who has warned Congress that the nation will run out of money to pay its bills if the debt ceiling, now at USD 36 trillion, is not lifted by mid-July or early August to allow more borrowing.

Senators are discussing potential changes to the bill , including possibly scaling back some of Trump's newly proposed tax breaks on automobile loans or overtime pay. There are also discussions about altering the USD 40,000 cap that the House proposed for state and local deductions.

Senators like Josh Hawley, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski have expressed concerns about the proposed Medicaid changes, including the $35 copay for services and the termination of a provider tax that many states use to fund rural hospitals.

(With inputs from AP)

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