US Senate in Final Push to Pass Controversial Trump Spending Bill

AFP/APP

Washington: The United States Senate entered a marathon session on Tuesday as Republicans pushed to pass former President Donald Trump’s flagship spending proposal—a sweeping and controversial bill that critics warn will balloon the national debt and drastically slash social welfare programs.

Dubbed by Trump as his “One Big Beautiful Bill,” the legislation aims to extend expiring first-term tax cuts at a staggering cost of $4.5 trillion, increase military spending, and fund mass deportations and border security initiatives. However, it also includes provisions to cut nearly $1 trillion in subsidized health care for low-income Americans, adding more than $3.3 trillion to the national deficit over the next decade.

With Trump hoping to sign the bill before Independence Day celebrations on Friday, progress has slowed to a crawl in the Senate. Monday saw lawmakers locked in a so-called “vote-a-rama” — a prolonged session where senators can propose unlimited amendments — stretching into its 17th hour by early Tuesday.

In a series of late-night posts on his Truth Social platform, Trump defended the bill as “perhaps the greatest and most important of its kind in history,” warning that failure to pass it would result in a “whopping 68 percent tax increase—the largest in history.”

Despite the push from Trump and the White House, the bill faces resistance even within the Republican ranks. Senators eyeing the 2026 midterm elections are divided over the package’s deeply unpopular cuts to social safety nets.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt urged Republican lawmakers to “stay tough and unified,” emphasizing the bill’s importance to the administration’s agenda.

Democrats accused Republicans of deliberately stalling the legislative process. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized the delays, saying, “They’ve got a lot of members who were promised things they may not be able to deliver on. And so they’re just stalling.”

Still, Republicans hold a narrow Senate majority and, given Trump’s strong influence over the party, are expected to ultimately pass the legislation despite unified Democratic opposition.

However, the Senate vote is only the first hurdle. The 940-page bill must next pass through the House of Representatives, where several Republican rebels in the slim majority are threatening.