Prime Highlights:
- Senate OKs Trump’s enormous tax-and-spending bill 51–50 after heated negotiating.
- Senator Murkowski gives pivotal vote after Alaska-specific concessions.
Key Fact:
- The bill is estimated to add $3–4 trillion to the federal budget deficit over the decade.
- Provisions include drastic reductions in Medicaid and SNAP, but boost defense and fossil fuel subsidies.
Key Background
By a 51–50 margin, with the tie-breaking vote of Vice President J.D. Vance, the U.S. Senate voted to narrowly pass former President Donald Trump’s back-of-the-envelope tax-and-spending measure called the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” The measure pairs deep tax cuts with higher spending on border security and military initiatives and is a policy victory for Trump and Republican moderates.
The Republican Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski was the key vote in the passage of the bill. She had originally opposed the bill because of drastic federal aid program reductions. Murkowski accepted the bill after she negotiated a series of concessions for her state. They consisted of Alaska-specific exemptions from Medicaid and SNAP reductions, a reversal of rural hospital funding reductions, Alaska fisheries tax credits, and revenue guarantees from oil and gas development. Murkowski characterized the decision as “agonizing,” a choice between national party duty and state-by-state duty.
Not all Republican senators were in alignment with Murkowski. Senators Rand Paul, Thom Tillis, and Susan Collins opposed the bill because they were concerned with the national debt and damage to the vulnerable populations. Democrats opposed the bill unanimously because they said that millions of people would have lost healthcare and food stamp benefits due to the cuts to entitlements.
The economists and the budget analysts estimate that the bill will add $3 to $4 trillion to the country’s debt within a decade. The opponents assert that the bill raises tax advantages for business and high-income individuals at the expense of social safety net programs. The Republicans, however, maintain that it is a long-term investment in economic security and national power. Since the bill now heads to the House for passage, it has a tight time window during which to pass before Independence Day and, as such, is one of the largest legislative battles of the year.
Read Also : Nvidia Surges to Record High, Becomes World’s Most Valuable Company
