US Senate have narrowly passed Donald Trump's mega-bill MHM NEWS

MHM NEWS

US Senate have narrowly passed Donald Trump's mega-bill

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00:00After hours of stalemate, Republicans in the U.S. Senate have narrowly passed Donald

00:25Trump's megabill on tax and spending, meaning the proposed legislation has cleared one of its

00:31key hurdles. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed with Vice President J.D. Vance casting a tie-breaking

00:38vote after more than 24 hours of debate. Dear viewers, if you like this news, please like it

00:44and share your comments in the comment box. It now heads back to the House, or lower chamber,

00:49where it still faces more opposition. An earlier version was cleared by House Republicans by a

00:55single-vote margin. Trump had given the Republican-controlled Congress a deadline of July

01:004th to send him a final version of the bill to sign into law. The bill as amendment is passed,

01:06Vance said on Tuesday afternoon, a moment that was met by applause among Senate Republicans,

01:12while Democrats sank into their seats and shook their heads in disapproval.

01:16Disputes over the deficit, social programs, and spending levels had created challenges for

01:21Republicans, stalling progress and prompting Trump to concede it would be very hard to meet his

01:27deadline for passing the bill. Despite efforts to galvanize the party, Senate Majority Leader John

01:33Thune lost three Republicans, Maine's Susan Collins, North Carolina's Tom Tillis, and Kentucky's Rand Paul,

01:40in the narrow vote. Collins, Tillis, and Paul joined all Democrats in voting against the bill.

01:46After days of negotiations, Republican leaders were finally able to secure the support of Alaska

01:52Senator Lisa Murkowski, who had been withholding her support over concerns of the impact of cuts

01:58to Medicaid in her state. Murkowski still appeared discontent with the bill, even after voting to

02:04support it, describing the process as rushed and under an artificial timeline.

02:09I struggled mightily with the impact on the most vulnerable in this country, Murkowski said,

02:15adding the process was probably the most difficult and agonizing legislative 24-hour period of her

02:22career. My hope is that the House is going to look at this and recognize that we're not there yet,

02:27she told reporters just outside the Senate floor moments after the vote. Murkowski's support made the

02:34final Senate vote tally 50-50 and prompted Vance to step in to cast his tie-breaking vote.

02:40On a visit to a migrant detention facility in Florida, Trump celebrated the passage of the bill.

02:46It's a great bill, he said. There is something for everyone.

02:49The legislation, considered a cornerstone of Trump's second-term agenda, would make permanent

02:55large tax cuts that were temporarily put in place when he was first in office.

02:59To make up for the expected loss of revenue, Republicans have looked to cut spending in

03:04a wide range of programs, including food subsidies and health care for lower-income Americans.

03:10The vote came on Tuesday afternoon, concluding a whirlwind voting session on Capitol Hill.

03:16Democrats had attempted to flex their muscles by putting up procedural hurdles against the bill

03:21to delay its passage. That included requiring Senate clerks to read all of the bill's 940 pages

03:27allowed and launching a lengthy debate process over proposed amendments in what is called a

03:33voterama. It is now up to House Republicans to approve the changes made by the Senate before the

03:38President can sign the bill into law. But its fate remains uncertain, as it has been opposed from

03:44different angles and Republicans can only afford to lose three votes. A group of fiscal conservative

03:50hawks have signaled their unhappiness with how much the Senate proposal could add to the U.S.

03:55national deficit, which refers to the difference between what the government spends and what it

04:00raises in revenue each year. According to the right-wing House Freedom Caucus, the Senate proposal

04:06could add $650 billion to the deficit each year. That's not fiscal responsibility, caucus members said

04:16in a social media post on Monday. It's not what we agreed to. Meanwhile, other House Republicans are

04:22concerned that the Senate legislation would make steeper cuts to the Medicaid health insurance

04:27program for lower-income Americans than they had approved. Democrats in both chambers of Congress,

04:33too, have criticized the proposed welfare cuts. Republicans in the House of Representatives will

04:39be working against a previously imposed July 4th deadline from the President.

04:43I'd love to do July 4th, but I think it's very hard to do July 4th. I would say maybe July 4th or

04:51somewhere around there, Trump told reporters as he was departing the White House for Florida.

04:56Among the other critics of the plans are tech billionaire Elon Musk, who helped Trump to win

05:00the White House last year and served as Trump's cost-cutting czar. Musk is now actively working to spoil the

05:07chances of survival for Trump's signature legislation and has threatened to set up a new political party

05:12if the bill clears Congress. On Monday, he threatened to back challengers to Republicans

05:18who vote for it. Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending

05:23and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in

05:28shame. Musk wrote on X. The bill's severe reductions to government support for renewable energy and

05:34electric vehicles could hurt the bottom line for a company where Musk made some of his fortune,

05:39Tesla as well.

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