{"id":32978,"date":"2025-07-02T00:01:37","date_gmt":"2025-07-02T00:01:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/?p=32978"},"modified":"2025-07-02T00:01:37","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T00:01:37","slug":"is-donald-trumps-big-beautiful-bill-a-political-curse-for-republicans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/financialrush.com\/?p=32978","title":{"rendered":"Is Donald Trump\u2019s \u2018big, beautiful bill\u2019 a political curse for Republicans?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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As Donald Trump\u2019s flagship tax and spending bill narrowly passed the US Senate on Tuesday morning, the president was 1,000 miles away, touring a new migrant detention centre in the Florida Everglades.<\/p>\n

A room of Trump aides and supporters cheered as he was told the news. Minutes later, he batted away a reporter\u2019s question about whether the victory would be short lived, given the bill\u2019s uncertain path forward when it goes back to the House of Representatives<\/a> for a final vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great bill,\u201d Trump replied. \u201cThere is something for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Trump\u2019s bravado belied the next hurdles for the so-called \u201cbig, beautiful bill\u201d, which stands to be the defining legislative achievement of his second term in office. <\/p>\n

First, Trump will need to muscle the bill through the House, where several of his fellow Republicans<\/a> have already threatened to vote against it, raising concerns about everything from its massive price tag to specific cuts to Medicaid, the public health insurance scheme for low-income and disabled Americans. <\/p>\n

The House originally passed an earlier version of the bill by a single vote<\/a> in May. <\/p>\n

But even if the president is able to get House Republicans to line up behind the bill in the coming days, he faces a big task in defending the legislation before an American public that already seems to be souring on it. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re going to have to sell this to the American people, because most people, most voters, are just becoming aware of this,\u201d said Ron Bonjean, a Republican strategist. <\/p>\n

Otherwise, he warned, \u201cthis is largely going to be forgotten about, or the critics will continue to pounce on it, and voters will remember it in a negative way\u201d. <\/p>\n

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On Capitol Hill, three Republican senators out of 53 opposed the legislation \u2014 and continued to criticise it after Tuesday\u2019s vote<\/span> \u00a9 Nathan Howard\/Reuters<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Opinion polling has consistently shown the bill is largely unpopular because of provisions that would extend tax cuts for the wealthy while slashing healthcare and social programmes for the poor. <\/p>\n

Non-partisan analysts have warned that the cuts to Medicaid in particular could strip about 12mn Americans of access to health insurance in the years to come. A Morning Consult survey, conducted at the weekend, found 50 per cent of voters opposed the \u201cbig, beautiful bill\u201d, while 36 per cent supported it.<\/p>\n

As well as unanimous Democratic opposition, Trump has had to face down attacks on the legislation from some Republicans and other allies who have been disparaging his top domestic goal in Congress. <\/p>\n

Elon Musk, the billionaire who recently left the administration after a spat with Trump, renewed his public criticism of the bill on Tuesday. \u201cAll I\u2019m asking is that we don\u2019t bankrupt America,\u201d he wrote on X.<\/p>\n

Trump retorted by suggesting the government should cut subsidies benefiting Musk\u2019s businesses and later said he would take \u201ca look\u201d at deporting him to South Africa, where Musk was born. <\/p>\n

On Capitol Hill, three Republican senators out of 53 opposed the legislation \u2014 and continued to criticise it after Tuesday\u2019s vote<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy vote against this bill stems primarily from the harmful impact it will have on Medicaid, affecting low-income families and rural healthcare providers like our hospitals and nursing homes,\u201d said Senator Susan Collins from Maine. <\/p>\n

Even some Republican lawmakers who voted in favour of the bill were complaining. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we have worked to improve the present bill for Alaska, it is not good enough for the rest of our nation, and we all know it,\u201d said Lisa Murkowski, who was on the fence but approved the bill at the eleventh hour. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy sincere hope is that this is not the final product,\u201d she added, pleading for the House to make some changes. <\/p>\n

Given the Republicans\u2019 narrow majority in the House and Democrats\u2019 unified opposition to the bill, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson \u2014 a close Trump ally \u2014 can only afford to lose a handful of votes if the legislation is to be approved by the lower chamber. <\/p>\n

The Senate made several substantive changes to the version of the bill that passed the House in May, driving up the cost of the legislation and imposing steeper cuts to Medicaid, angering some House Republicans.<\/p>\n

An agreed-upon version of the bill needs to pass the House and Senate before being sent to Trump\u2019s desk to be signed into law by his self-imposed July 4 deadline.<\/p>\n

Trump called on House Republicans to rally behind him on Tuesday afternoon, writing on his Truth Social platform: \u201cTo my GOP friends in the House: Stay UNITED, have fun, and Vote \u2018YAY\u2019\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009GOD BLESS YOU ALL!\u201d<\/p>\n

Vice-president JD Vance took to X to hail the bill for delivering on Trump\u2019s central 2024 campaign pledges, including \u201cmassive tax cuts, especially no tax on tips and overtime\u201d and \u201cbig money for border security\u201d. <\/p>\n

But that did not stop several House Republicans from lashing out at the Senate\u2019s version and insisting more changes be made to the legislation \u2014 a move that could derail any votes this week and force the House to blow through Trump\u2019s deadline. <\/p>\n

\"Chuck<\/picture>
Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer noted \u2018a bit of sombreness that I don\u2019t think was expected\u2019 among Republicans after the Senate passed the bill<\/span> \u00a9 Al Drago\/Bloomberg<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe changes the Senate made to the House passed Beautiful Bill, including unacceptable increases to the national debt and the deficit, are going to make passage in the House difficult,\u201d Marlin Stutzman, a Republican member of the lower chamber from Indiana, said in a post on X. <\/p>\n

Others struck a more upbeat note \u2014 but sought to downplay expectations that a deal could be done by the weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will get there eventually, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s going to be in the next couple days,\u201d Andy Harris, chair of the House Freedom Caucus, an influential group of conservatives, told Fox News. <\/p>\n