President Donald Trump’s $ 3.3 trillion taxes and spending project was approved in the Senate on Tuesday after an intense mobilization of Republican leaders to convince the undecided and ensure a political victory for the president.
The text was approved by 51 votes to 50 with three Republicans – Susan Collins (Maine), Thom Tillis (North Carolina) and Rand Paul (Kentucky) – voting against. The decisive vote was given by Vice President Jd Vance. The package, which now goes to the representatives, combines $ 4.5 trillion in tax cuts with $ 1.2 trillion in spending cuts.
“It was a collective effort,” said Senate leader John Thun, shortly after voting. “In the end, we got it.”
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Nicknamed “One Big Beautiful Bill”, the project incorporates Trump’s entire legislative agenda into a single proposal. The president acted directly with the parliamentarians to accelerate the processing of the text in Congress.
Republicans believe that approval will help the party maintain their majorities in Congress in the middle elections. However, research shows that the measure is not widely popular. According to the Pew Research Institute, 49% of Americans oppose the project, 29% support it, and 21% are undecided.
The House should vote the text this week, but approval is not guaranteed. Only a few republicans can vote against the proposal to advance, considering the unanimous opposition of the Democrats. Conservatives want more spending cuts, while moderate showed concern about reducing programs such as Medicaid and other social protection networks.
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Among the controversial points is the increase in state tax deduction and locations from $ 10,000 to $ 40,000 for five years – a measure considered insufficient by parliamentarians from New York. Reductions in transfers to hospitals also motivated contrary voting statements.
Any change in the House will require a new vote in the Senate, which may compromise Trump’s plans to sanction the measure until the July 4 holiday.
Trump’s agenda
According to Republicans, the proposal will stimulate the economy, contain illegal immigration and start cuts in programs such as Medicaid. The project also avoids tax increases for individuals in early 2026, when they expire the reductions approved in 2017, and make some tax incentives permanent for companies.
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Many economists, however, claim that positive economic impacts are limited and that the project aggravates the public deficit.
“The US fiscal trajectory is not sustainable,” warned Federal Reserve President Jerome Powell on Tuesday. “The current level of debt is managed, but the trend is not. We need to face it, the sooner, the better.”
At Trump’s request, the text includes new fiscal incentives for tips, vehicle financing and overtime, as well as expanding benefits to the elderly and parents – measures that were part of the president’s election campaign.
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These incentives are funded by deep cuts in the renewable energy sector, favoring the fossil fuel industry. Tax credit for electric vehicles, for example, will be eliminated, which caused criticism of ELON MUSK, founder of Tesla.
The project also allocates hundreds of billions of dollars for the Armed Forces, reflecting Trump’s priority to strengthen the defense over foreign aid. In addition, it provides for increased resources for migratory inspection.
These tax cuts and new spending will be compensated, in part, by reductions in programs such as Medicaid, Food Valley and federal student loans.
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Democrats criticize the project for benefiting the richest and penalizing the poorest, pointing out that it will increase the public deficit by $ 3.3 trillion in a decade – contrary to the republican discourse of fiscal responsibility.
It is estimated that about $ 1 trillion will be cut from Medicaid through work requirements for children without children, co-participation and limits to federal transfers to states. The rules for the food stamp will also be stricter, and states with flawed systems will be penalized.
According to the Congress Budget Office, up to 11.8 million people will be able to lose access to health in the next decade due to the measure.
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The text also increases the debt ceiling by $ 5 trillion, removing the risk of default from August. Trump and Republicans used the budget reconciliation mechanism to raise the limit without negotiating with democrats, thus avoiding concessions on social programs.
During the final stretch of negotiations, senators rejected a controversial proposal that would prevent US states from regulating artificial intelligence – a defeat for technology giants such as Microsoft, Goal and Investment Fund Andreessen Horowitz, which defended the measure.
