Senate passes Trump’s ‘big, beautiful’ bill in ultra-tight vote

The US Senate approved the Donald Trump’s mammoth domestic policy bill by just one vote amid misgivings over another US$3 trillion in national debt.

Staff members sit on the Senate steps at dawn during a vote-a-rama at the US Capitol. Picture: Al Drago/Getty Images

Donald Trump has welcome the Senate’s passing of his ‘Big, Beautiful’ domestic policy bill as “music to my ears” after JD Vance cast the tie-breaking vote to get the bill through 51-50.

Republican leaders had struggled to corral support during a record 24-hour “vote-a-rama” amendment session on the Senate floor, as Democrats offered dozens of challenges to the most divisive aspects of the package.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune was able to turn around two moderates considering siding with Democrats, to deliver a 50-50 vote, with the Vice President breaking the tie.

Asked about the vote during a visit to a controversial migrant detention centre dubbed ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ migration centre in Florida, the President answered: “Wow, music to my ears.” He added: “I was also wondering how we’re doing, because I know this is primetime, it shows that I care about you.”

The sprawling text now heads to the House of Representatives, where it faces unified Democratic opposition and multiple Republicans baulking at slashed health care and food aid programs for poor Americans.

Mr Trump’s bill proposes a US$4.5 trillion ($6.85 trillion) extension of his first term tax cuts, contentiously offset with US$1.2 trillion ($1.83 trillion) in savings mainly targeting the Medicaid health insurance program that will strip coverage from an estimated 12 million low-income and disabled Americans.

It also rolls back billions of dollars in green energy tax credits while providing a US$350 billion ($532 billion) infusion for border security and Trump’s mass migrant deportation program.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune. Picture: Andrew Harnik / Getty Images

The President made clear that the goal remains to get the bill through the House in the coming days and sign it into law by Friday’s July 4th Independence Day holiday, although he acknowledged that the self-imposed deadline could slip.

“It’s going to get in, it’s going to pass, and we’re going to be very happy,” he told reporters as arrived in Florida to view new migrant detention facilities.

‘Bad legislation’

Polls show the bill is among the most unpopular ever considered across multiple demographic, age and income groups, and Democrats hope to leverage public anger ahead of the 2026 midterm elections when they aim to retake the House.

Backed by extensive independent analysis, they say the bill’s tax cuts would disproportionately benefit the wealthy at the expense of social safety net programs for the poorest Americans.

“It’s bad legislation,” Arizona Senator Mark Kelly told MSNBC. “If this passes, this is a political gift for Democrats.”

A reporter naps in the press gallery as the Senate stayed in session throughout the night at the US Capitol Building. Picture: Getty Images

A handful of senators in the Republican majority had also threatened to upset the apple cart, echoing Democratic concerns that the bill would add more than US$3.3 trillion ($5.02 trillion) to the nation’s already yawning budget deficits over a decade.

The most high-profile opposition has come from outside Congress, however, in the shape of tech billionaire and estranged former Trump aide Elon Musk, who baulked at the bill’s debt implications and stripping of clean energy subsidies.

In a dramatic reignition of his feud with MrTrump, Mr Musk vowed to launch a new political party to challenge lawmakers who campaigned on reduced federal spending only to vote for the bill.

Mr Musk — whose businesses include rocket company and government contractor SpaceX, which has about US$22 billion ($33.5 billion) in federal contracts — has been campaigning against the bill since quitting as a Mr Trump advisor in May.

A furious Mr Trump on Tuesday said he would consider deporting Mr Musk and ending federal funds for his companies.

“Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far,” Mr Trump posted in a retort on social media, “and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa.”

Focus on House

Although the House of Representatives has already passed their own version of the bill, it will have to come back to the lower chamber for a final rubber stamp before it reaches Mr Trump’s desk.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said ‘going to pass this bill one way or the other’. Picture: AP /J. Scott Applewhite

House Republicans were watching anxiously from the sidelines to see if their Senate colleagues would adopt changes that would be hard for Speaker Mike Johnson to sell to his lawmakers.

Fiscal hawks in the lower chamber are furious at what they say is US$651 billion ($991 billion) of extra deficit spending in the Senate’s tweaks.

A House vote could come as early as Wednesday but even with full attendance, House Republicans can only afford to lose three votes.

“We’re going to pass this bill one way or the other,” Mr Johnson told reporters at the Capitol on Monday.