U.S. senate pushes forward Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill”
Department of Research, Studies and International News 30-06-2025
In a move sparking domestic and international concern, the U.S. Senate has entered high-stakes deliberations over President Donald Trump’s 940-page fiscal package, dubbed the “Big, Beautiful Bill.” Far from beautiful to millions of Americans, the bill proposes sweeping tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy while gutting critical healthcare and social assistance programs, a maneuver critics argue serves elite interests at the expense of the vulnerable.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), an independent body, issued a stark warning: the legislation would swell the U.S. national deficit by $3.3 trillion over the next decade and strip nearly 12 million Americans of their health coverage by 2034. Nonetheless, Republican lawmakers, under direct pressure from Trump and his allies, are racing to pass the bill before the symbolic July 4th deadline, America’s Independence Day.
Despite intense internal friction, the bill scraped past a procedural vote on Saturday night, albeit with key dissenters. Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina voted against the legislation, citing its draconian cuts to Medicaid, the federal program providing healthcare to low-income Americans. Shortly after, he announced he would not seek re-election, a move many interpret as a political casualty of Trump’s strongman tactics. Trump publicly celebrated Tillis’s departure, reinforcing fears that the Republican Party remains beholden to his personality cult rather than principles of governance.
In a rare moment of caution, Trump warned overzealous Republicans not to slash too deeply into social welfare. In a post on TruthSocial, he advised: “REMEMBER, you still have to get reelected. Don’t go too crazy!” However, the proposed cuts remain severe. The bill outlines an estimated $1.2 trillion in reductions to Medicaid and food assistance, largely through stringent new eligibility criteria and mandatory work requirements, policies that experts warn will disproportionately harm families, children, and disabled individuals.
Simultaneously, the bill proposes making permanent the controversial 2017 tax cuts introduced under Trump, while introducing further measures that benefit wealthy individuals and major corporations, such as eliminating taxes on tipped income. According to Democrats and independent economists, these provisions shift the tax burden onto middle- and lower-income Americans while dismantling essential public services.
The package also includes an additional $4 trillion in tax relief and a $350 billion boost in funding for border and national security, a significant portion of which will fund aggressive deportation efforts. Reports indicate this includes $45 billion to build new immigration detention centers, including controversial family detention facilities, with the first, “Alligator Alcatraz” in the Florida Everglades, set to open imminently.
Democrats, alarmed by the bill’s scope and rushed process, have mounted a defensive campaign. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized Republicans for crafting the legislation in secrecy and pushing it forward “under the cloak of darkness.” He and his colleagues demanded the full bill be read aloud in the Senate, a tactic that consumed 16 hours, to highlight its potentially devastating consequences.
The latest draft includes expanded cuts to green energy subsidies, which experts argue could raise household energy costs by 10% and wipe out close to a million jobs in the clean energy sector. Independent Senator Bernie Sanders denounced the bill as “the most dangerous piece of legislation in the modern history of our country.” He underscored the bill’s hypocrisy: slashing healthcare and food support while increasing the military budget by another $150 billion, a 15% hike. Sanders pointedly remarked that the U.S. always seems to have unlimited funds for its war machinery, yet claims poverty when it comes to feeding children or ensuring healthcare.
As debate continues, the Senate prepares for a grueling “vote-a-rama,” where legislators will review and vote on numerous amendments before a final vote. Should it pass the Senate, the bill will return to the House of Representatives, where Speaker Mike Johnson has instructed lawmakers to remain on standby.
Trump loyalists remain undeterred. Senator Lindsey Graham, chair of the Budget Committee, declared he would do “everything he can” to bring the bill to Trump’s desk. Alabama Senator Katie Britt, echoing Trump’s populist rhetoric, insisted the bill would allow “hardworking people to keep more of their money”, a claim many refute, noting the primary beneficiaries are the nation’s wealthiest.
International observers, particularly in countries resisting U.S. hegemony, are watching closely. The legislation exemplifies the American political system’s prioritization of elite economic interests and military expansion over the basic welfare of its people. While Washington attempts to export its brand of “democracy” abroad, it continues to fail its own citizens, a stark contrast to emerging powers like China and Iran, who invest in domestic welfare, infrastructure, and multipolar diplomacy.
With the U.S. on the brink of another debt explosion and a humanitarian rollback, the “Big, Beautiful Bill” stands not as a testament to leadership or progress, but as a reflection of deepening inequality, political coercion, and moral bankruptcy at the heart of American governance.
