Trump administration pushed Senate to pass ‘Big, Beautiful Bill,' as Trump argues with Musk

Yahoo

01-07-2025

President Donald Trump and his administration pulled out all the stops to urge the Senate to pass the 'big, beautiful bill.'
The urgency comes as the Senate canceled its recess week and held an all-night vote-a-rama to pass Trump's massive reconciliation bill. The Senate began the marathon voting session around 9 a.m. EDT Monday and finally wrapped up voting 27 hours later.
Midday Tuesday, the Senate narrowly passed the package with the help of a tie-breaking vote from Vice President JD Vance.
Vance headed to the Capitol early Tuesday to see what influence he could have over the upper chamber as the July 4 deadline nears and Republican leaders scrambled to finalize key details to earn the 50 votes needed to pass the bill.
Before departing the White House early Tuesday, Trump spoke to reporters and said he would be back in Washington in the afternoon to continue 'fighting for the bill.'
'I hear it's going OK,' Trump said. 'We'll move it along.'
Late Sunday Trump cautioned Republican lawmakers against going 'too crazy' with the cost-cutting measures. He told reporters Tuesday there were certain things cut that were 'good,' but it's a complicated package.
Despite pushback from Senate Democrats and Republicans who want to protect constituents from Medicaid and Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Programs, like Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Trump predicted, 'in the end, we're gonna have it.'
Democrats vowed to make the voting process in the Senate as painful as possible, introducing motions to reconsider the budget's contents, which took up multiple hours and resulted in the overnight voting session.
Vance arrived at the Capitol to quell concerns that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., would have to pull the bill from the floor after hours of deadlock. The vice president has, in the past, proven to be an influential voice among GOP senators. He made his way to the upper chamber to see what he could do to push it over the finish line.
Asked by reporters if the Senate would finish the bill some time Tuesday, Vance told reporters, 'We're going to find out.'
Vance also took to social media to express support for the package. In several posts on X, he made the case for the bill, including its impact on illegal immigration. 'Pass the bill,' he wrote several times.
Other administration officials also worked overtime to see that Trump's bill was passed in the upper chamber.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum appeared on Fox News's 'Jesse Watters Primetime' on Monday evening to highlight the package.
'This bill really cements not just peace abroad, but prosperity at home,' Burgum said. 'And two of the pillars of prosperity at home is the energy dominance, which is going to help, driving down inflation. Already, we got the lowest gas prices this country has seen in four years, and then, border security.'
'These are two things that President Trump ran on, and this bill delivers that for the American people,' he continued.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also appeared on 'Fox & Friends' on Tuesday morning to advocate for the package's tax cuts.
'This is a deal for working people because what we have is President Trump's 2017 tax bill, and we are overlaying that with the President's campaign promises, no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, the lower tax on Social Security and tax deducibility of American-made cars,' Bessent said. 'Those sound like working class tax breaks to me.'
Not everyone is in support of the package, however.
A former Trump administration official, Elon Musk, has continuously criticized the bill. He doubled down on his disdain for the package in several more posts on his social platform X.
After departing the White House and his post at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), he broke with Trump over the spending package and initiated a fiery feud with the president over the last month.
Musk even floated creating a new political party in the wake of the bill's passage.
Around noon on Tuesday, after many hours of voting, Senate Republicans were able to narrowly pass the package.
Republican Sens. Thom Tillis, N.C., Rand Paul, Ky., and Susan Collins, Maine, voted against the bill.
The final vote resulted in a 50-50 split and Vance was in the chamber to break the tie.
The package will now head back to the House to quickly be reviewed by Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and the GOP's slim majority.
If passed, it will land on Trump's desk to be signed into law ahead of his July Fourth deadline.