After a marathon 24-hour debate and days of political wrangling, the US Senate has narrowly passed former President Donald Trump’s landmark tax and spending bill — dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, with Vice-President JD Vance casting the decisive tie-breaking vote on Tuesday morning.
The long-anticipated legislation, a cornerstone of Trump’s second-term economic agenda, cleared one of its biggest legislative hurdles after a 50-50 Senate deadlock was broken by Vance. The bill now returns to the House of Representatives for approval of Senate amendments — a process likely to reignite sharp debate within both parties.
Despite strong efforts by Senate Majority Leader John Thune to rally Republican support, the vote exposed deep divisions within the party. Senators Susan Collins (Maine), Thom Tillis (North Carolina), and Rand Paul (Kentucky) voted against the bill, aligning with Democrats to oppose the nearly 1,000-page legislation.
Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, who had earlier expressed skepticism, ultimately backed the bill, enabling the GOP to reach the 50-vote threshold needed for Vance to intervene.
The legislation seeks to make permanent the sweeping tax cuts enacted during Trump’s first term, while offsetting the anticipated revenue shortfall with major reductions to federal programmes — including food assistance and healthcare for low-income Americans. Democrats have fiercely criticised the bill’s provisions, particularly its impact on Medicaid and renewable energy subsidies.
In a symbolic attempt to delay its passage, Senate Democrats had earlier demanded that clerks read the entire bill aloud — all 940 pages — followed by an hours-long “vote-a-rama” on amendments. Still, the Republican leadership pressed ahead, concluding the debate just in time to remain within the president’s target timeline.
Although Trump had previously set a July 4 deadline for Congress to deliver the final bill to his desk, he admitted on Tuesday that meeting the date may be difficult. “I’d love to do July 4th but I think it’s very hard to do July 4th,” he told reporters.
The bill’s next challenge lies in the House, where Republicans maintain only a slim majority. While an earlier version passed by a single vote, the latest iteration has sparked backlash from multiple factions — including fiscal conservatives and moderate Republicans concerned about the depth of proposed social programme cuts.
The House Freedom Caucus warned the legislation could add up to $650 billion annually to the national deficit. “That’s not fiscal responsibility,” the group wrote in a social media post. “It’s not what we agreed to.”
Meanwhile, concerns have also surfaced from Trump’s high-profile allies. Tech billionaire Elon Musk — who played a pivotal role in Trump’s 2024 campaign — publicly condemned the bill on Monday, blasting lawmakers for supporting what he called “the biggest debt increase in history.” Musk, who served as Trump’s “cost-cutting tsar,” has threatened to back primary challengers against Republican lawmakers who support the bill and hinted at forming a new political party.
“Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for this should hang their head in shame,” Musk posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Critics also point to the bill’s severe cuts to renewable energy and electric vehicle incentives — a move that could directly impact Tesla, a company closely tied to Musk’s fortune.
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