US Senate passes Trump’s landmark mega-bill

Washington: The GOP-led Senate passed US President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, a major stride toward Trump’s goal of getting the legislation to his desk and signed by this week’s end.

The sweeping bill passed narrowly by 51 to 50, with US Vice President JD Vance casting the deciding ballot. Three Republicans were the only GOP lawmakers to vote no: senators Susan Collins, Thom Tillis and Rand Paul.

The legislation is considered the GOP’s biggest legislative win in the lead-up to next year’s midterms, in which the party could lose its slim majority in the House, Xinhua news agency reported.

The bill extends Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, slashes taxes on tips and provides new spending for the military and border security.

“Today was a historic day … and we’re very excited to be a part of something that is going to make America stronger, safer and more prosperous,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said after the bill passed the Senate.

But there remains one more major hurdle ahead, as the bill needs to be passed in the House of Representatives, which is expected to vote as early as Wednesday.

“It’s a great bill. There is something for everyone, and I think it’s going to go very nicely in the House. Actually, I think it will be easier in the House than it was in the Senate,” Trump said.

However, Democrats have been vehemently opposed to the mega-bill, which funds an agenda to which Democrats stand in stark contrast.

Democrats have blasted the tax cuts in the bill as reductions that benefit the wealthy. Republicans maintain that the cuts will help the middle class.

The bill has angered Democrats for what the party says are cuts to essential programs such as Medicaid — health care coverage for low-income people — as well as to food stamps.

Democrats also fret the bill will add trillions of US dollars to the surging national debt.

An analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said the changes Trump made in the Senate version of the bill would add trillions of dollars to the already significant national debt, and that the bill would create considerable losses in health care coverage.

The CBO has predicted that the bill would add $2.4 trillion to the national debt in the next 10 years, while also pushing up the deficit by around $3.3 trillion between 2025 and 2034.

The CBO’s analysis also forecast that the bill would cause 11.8 million more Americans to lose their insurance by 2034, which, as experts have said, will surely create hurdles for the bill’s passage in the House before Trump’s July 4 deadline.

IANS