Trump scores major win after Senate passes his ‘big, beautiful bill’ despite GOP drama

The U.S. Senate passed its version of President Donald Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill,’ a massive piece of tax cuts and spending legislation that is the cornerstone of the White House agenda.

In an extremely tight vote, the legislation passed the upper chamber with no Democratic votes and a few Republican defections. Republican Sens. Rand Paul, Susan Collins and Thom Tillis voted against the measure before VP JD Vance cast a tie-breaking vote to push the mega-bill through 51 – 50. 

It now heads back to the House of Representatives to resolve the differences between their versions before it can be signed by Trump.

The bill extends most of the tax cuts Trump signed into law in 2017, including slashing rates on estates and for corporations. Deductions for state and local taxes as well as business owners are included. 

The legislation also fulfills a campaign promise to eliminate taxes on tips for the next three years.  

It doubles the child tax credit as well as the standard deduction for tax filers. Additionally, it includes a popular $1,000 ‘Trump investment account’ for newborn babies.

To pay for the massive tax cuts, the Senate is choosing to rein in spending programs for low-income Americans. One provision requires most Medicaid recipients with children over the age 15 to work. It also imposes more rules to qualify for health care subsidies

Senate Majority Leader John Thune pulled together the votes needed to advance the bill after nearly a month of private back-door negotiations and public pressure. Heading to the floor before the final vote, he appeared unsure if he could pull out a passing result, telling reporters he hoped to have enough support. 

That came just after one of the final holdouts, Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski, finally signaled that she would vote for the bill after a closed-door meeting with GOP leadership. The senator reportedly was able to secure last-second carve-outs to protect Alaskans from deep Medicaid and food assistance cuts before casting her vote for the measure.

‘She, as you know, is a very independent thinker, somebody who studies and I’m just grateful that at the end of the day, she concluded what the rest of us did, or whose most rest of us did, and that was that this was the right direction in the future,’ Thune said of Murkowski’s support. 

U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) speaks to reporters at the Capitol as lawmakers work on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on June 25, 2025 in Washington, DC. Senate Republicans are attempting to meet President Trump’s goal of passing his domestic agenda bill by July 4th

Trump also got his hands dirty to get the bill across the finish line, throwing his weight into Republicans who remained on the fence. 

Senate Majority Whip Barrasso played an instrumental role in getting the bill done.

His team revealed to the Daily Mail that he spoke regularly with Trump, Vice President JD Vance and key administration officials.

They also noted that he views the White House as an extension of his Whip Operation – the closers.

‘Senator Barrasso has been instrumental in connecting senators with administration officials to discuss any concerns about the legislation. Senator Barrasso’s conversations with members led to key improvements to the bill that secured the necessary 50 votes,’ the whip’s team told the Daily Mail.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was one top administration official who weighed in on the bill Monday afternoon, calling for Republicans to ‘stay tough and unified during the homestretch.’ 

‘President Trump is counting on them to get the job done,’ Leavitt added. 

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson celebrated the passage and indicated that the House will immediately move to consider the Senate’s revisions. 

‘The House will work quickly to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill that enacts President Trump’s full America First agenda by the Fourth of July,’ Johnson said in a statement. 

‘The American people gave us a clear mandate, and after four years of Democrat failure, we intend to deliver without delay.’

Yet, not all Trump allies were thrilled about the bill.

Trump-Musk feud hit new levels

Amid all of the drama that took place on Capitol Hill, even more played out on social media.

The feud between Donald Trump and Elon Musk escalated to new levels in the final hours before the bill’s passage.  

Posting on X in the early hours of Tuesday morning, Trump threatened to turn the Department of Government Efficiency on his former ‘First Buddy’ Elon Musk.

The president suggested he may use the department Musk once headed to strip away the billionaire’s government subsidies to decimate his business empire, as their feud hit galactic new heights.

Trump issued the threat in response to Musk’s public protest over the ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill,’ in which he pledged to launch his own political party if the bill succeeds.

The attacks escalated even further as Trump then even threatened to deport Musk. 

‘I don’t know. We’ll have to take a look,’ the president told DailyMail on Tuesday when asked about deporting Musk.

‘We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon,’ Trump added.

Former White House Advisor Elon Musk who led Trump’s Department of Government efficiency for about four months as a ‘special government employee’ wrote on X Monday ‘that It is obvious with the insane spending of this bill … that we live in a one-party country – the Porky Pig Party!!’

Musk then proceeded to proceed to pledge to primary Republicans who ran cutting spending but voted for the bill. 

‘If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day,’ Musk pledged.

‘Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a Voice,’ he added.

Intra-GOP defections plagued the Republican senate caucus  

North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis drew the ire of Trump over the weekend due to his opposition to the legislation. 

Tillis had raised significant concerns this week over the bill’s deep cuts to Medicaid sharing projections that his state could lose $38.9 billion, impacting more than 600,000 North Carolinians. 

But after Trump’s MAGA supporters – and the president himself – started ripping into Tillis over his opposition, he announced that he will not seek re-election in 2026 when his term is up.

Trump fired a warning shot to his fellow Republican rebels with a post to Truth Social on Sunday.

‘Great News! ‘Senator’ Thom Tillis will not be seeking reelection.’

He then warned any other members of the GOP who were not on board with the bill due to how much they believe it would add to the debt that they would have to face the voters after it became a success.

‘For all cost cutting Republicans, of which I am one, REMEMBER, you still have to get reelected. Don’t go too crazy! We will make it all up, times 10, with GROWTH, more than ever before,’ he said.

In a Friday evening floor speech, Thune boasted about the importance of delivering on permanent tax relief for the American people, which Republicans can do in codifying the 2017 Trump tax cuts.

Still, not all of the members of the President’s party were on board with passing the bill.

Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky voted no on the bill due to the additional increases to the national debt.

Paul said Friday that the ‘deficit is the biggest threat to our national security, we’ve got to do something about it.’ 

‘This bill has about $400 -$500 billion worth of new spending,’ Paul also noted. Paul continually raised concerns about the $5 trillion dollars in additional debt through the entire Senate negotiation process.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., a member of the Senate Finance Committee, speaks to reporters after a meeting with fellow Republicans on advancing President Donald Trump’s bill of tax breaks and spending cuts, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, June 4, 2025.

Wisconsin Republican Ron Johnson was another fiscal hawk weary about the debt increases that are set to come with the passage of the GOP spending package.

Cutting Medicaid was seen by a number of Republicans as a way to pay for the president’s policy agenda, which includes increases in areas such as border security, which the White House asked to be at $150 billion.

U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) speaks to reporters as Republican lawmakers struggle to pass U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping spending and tax bill, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 27, 2025

U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) speaks to reporters as Republican lawmakers struggle to pass U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping spending and tax bill, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 27, 2025

Medicaid cuts were also concerns for Senators such as Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.). Both of their states have a significant number of rural hospitals that could be hurt by a decrease of federal dollars coming to the door.

Alaska Republican Murkowski expressed opposition to the work requirements for benefits, including Medicaid, but also SNAP, the federal government’s food assistance program. Though her concerns were later addressed with a closed-door deal to reportedly lessen the Medicaid and SNAP cuts in her state. 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and House Republican Speaker Mike Johnson attended a lunch with GOP Senators Friday to negotiate an increase in the state and local tax deduction, known as SALT.

This provision was capped at $40,000 in the House version of the package, which is four times the $10,000 that is current law. 

Senators were willing to keep the current $10,000 limit which would be a non-starter in the House as the bill would lose the support of Republicans in high-tax Democrat led states, a group that doesn’t exist in the Senate.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent addressed reporters during the Republican leadership press conference in the Ohio Clock corridor, outlining the administration’s defense of the ‘One Big Beautiful’ economic package. June 24, 2025.

Another critical point of contention in the Senate’s reconciliation process was the role of the Senate parliamentarian. The parliamentarian is a lawyer who serves in an unelected position, and she is tasked with implementing the rules of the Senate. The current parliamentarian has held her role since she was appointed in 2012. 

This week, she ruled against a number of provisions including a GOP attempt to block federal funds from Medicaid going to transgender care, as well as to illegal immigrants claiming medicaid or CHIP dollars.

The two chambers of Congress must now reconcile their differences to get a bill for the president to sign by his deadline of the 4th of July.

US President Donald J. Trump responds to a question from the news media during a press conference in the briefing room of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 27 June 2025.

President Trump turned up the heat on Republicans Friday, writing on his social media site Truth Social that the GOP was ‘on the precipice of delivering Massive General Tax Cuts,’ including no taxes on tips and no taxes on overtime.