US Senate Opens Debate on Trump’s Controversial $4.5 Trillion Spending Bill

AFP/APP

Washington: The US Senate launched a heated debate early Sunday on former President Donald Trump’s contentious “One Big Beautiful Bill” — a sweeping $4.5 trillion spending proposal that seeks to cement key parts of his domestic agenda while slashing major social welfare programs.

The bill aims to extend Trump’s expiring first-term tax cuts, bolster border security, and implement deep cuts to Medicaid, the public health insurance program for low-income Americans. It has triggered sharp divisions within the Republican Party, particularly as lawmakers look ahead to the 2026 midterm elections.

Despite strong resistance, the Senate narrowly approved a motion to begin debate in a 51-49 vote late Saturday. Vice President JD Vance joined last-minute negotiations with Republican holdouts, though two GOP senators ultimately sided with all 47 Democrats in voting against the motion.

Trump, urging swift passage ahead of the July 4 Independence Day holiday, took to his Truth Social platform to hail the vote as a “GREAT VICTORY.”

“Republicans must remember that they are fighting against a very evil, corrupt and, in many ways, incompetent (Policywise!) group of people, who would rather see our country ‘go down in flames’ than do the right thing,” Trump wrote earlier.

Democrats, fiercely opposed to both the bill and Trump’s broader agenda, are employing delay tactics to stall debate. They demanded that the entire bill — approximately 1,000 pages — be read aloud in full before deliberations could proceed, a process expected to take around 15 hours.

“Republicans won’t tell America what’s in the bill,” said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. “So Democrats are forcing it to be read start to finish on the floor. We will be here all night if that’s what it takes.”

If passed by the Senate, the legislation would return to the House for final approval, where GOP leaders can afford to lose only a few votes amid strong internal resistance.

Cuts Spark Uproar

To offset the massive cost of the extended tax relief, Republicans have proposed sweeping cuts — primarily targeting Medicaid. These cuts could devastate rural hospitals and leave an estimated 8.6 million Americans without health care, triggering alarm even among some Republican lawmakers.

The proposal also rolls back tax incentives for renewable energy introduced under President Joe Biden, a move critics say undermines progress on climate change and economic modernization.

Adding to the controversy, billionaire and former Trump advisor Elon Musk, who recently clashed publicly with the former president, called the bill “utterly insane and destructive.”

“It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future,” said Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX.

Independent analyses suggest the bill would result in a historic redistribution of wealth — from the poorest 10 percent of Americans to the richest — while enjoying minimal public support across demographic, age, and income groups.

Although the House has passed a version of the bill, both chambers must agree on a unified text before it can be sent to Trump’s desk for signing.