Critics are concerned that tax cuts may be implemented at the expense of key social services, such as healthcare and childcare support.
Muhamad Yehia
After a long wait, the Senate is launching action on President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” of tax breaks and spending cuts at a risky moment for the US and the global economy.
More than a month after House Republicans surprised Washington by advancing their framework for Trump’s $4.5 trillion (€4.1tn) in tax breaks and $2tn (€1.8tn) in spending cuts, Senate Republicans voted on Thursday to start working on their version. The largely party-line vote, 52-48, sets the stage for a potential Senate all-nighter on Friday, spilling into the weekend.
But work on the multitrillion-dollar package is coming as markets at home and abroad are on edge in the aftermath of Trump’s vast tariffs scheme, complicating an already difficult political and procedural undertaking on what Republicans hope will become their signature domestic policy package.
Trump says he’s on board with the plan and Republicans, in control of Congress, are eager to show the party is making progress toward delivering on their campaign promises. By nightfall, as voting began, one Republican, the libertarian-leaning Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, voted against, as did all Democrats.