In a last-ditch attempt to convince Congress to approve his historic tax and spending measure before the deadline of July 4, Donald Trump has cancelled a scheduled trip to New Jersey. According to a White House official, the president will stay in Washington to urge senators to approve the so-called “big, beautiful” plan, instead of spending the week at his golf club in New Jersey.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated Thursday that the president is determined to have this law on his desk at the White House before Independence Day. Trump’s last-ditch attempt to get the package through Congress by his self-imposed deadline comes as the Senate has been a stumbling block for the legislation, particularly due to fiscal hawks worried about how it will affect the amount of US debt.
As early as Saturday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune intends to schedule a vote. Last month, the House of Representatives enacted its own version of the bill, but it needs Senate approval for any changes to become law. Its passage has become much more difficult as a result of certain House members objecting to changes made by the upper chamber.
What are the key elements of Trump’s bill?
Trump has referred to his “Big Beautiful Bill,” a comprehensive piece of legislation at the heart of his second-term ambition, as the “ultimate codification” of the MAGA program. Tax cuts, border security, deregulation, and expenditure cutbacks are just a few of the many policy topics that are covered in the measure.
The bill would temporarily raise the child tax credit, provide additional overtime and tipped income deductions, extend senior benefits, and permanently implement the 2017 Trump tax cuts. While providing some targeted relief for working-class families, the law is designed to provide substantial advantages to middle- and upper-class earnings, particularly high-income households. The draft suggests significant expenditure cutbacks on safety net programs like Medicaid and SNAP (food assistance) to offset the cost of these tax cuts, which may disproportionately impact Americans with lower incomes.
What is the Senate’s main objection to the bill?
Even some Republican senators have voiced worries about the bill’s impact and breadth, and recent polling indicates that more Americans oppose it than favor it.
Lawmakers have voiced concern that it will result in higher debt levels and less money for social and healthcare programs. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the plan will increase the budget deficit by $2.4 billion over the next ten years, causing the government debt to surpass its highest level since World War II. In an attempt to pass the law before the president’s deadline, the administration has been working on it for the past week.
At a White House event on Thursday, Trump attempted to highlight its benefits for working Americans, including provisions intended to eliminate tip and overtime pay taxes. In an effort to appease Senate fiscal hawks who have threatened to withhold support, the White House Council of Economic Advisers published a study on Wednesday suggesting the measure would not raise debt levels.
Can Trump meet the July 4 deadline?
Using a unique procedure for tax and spending legislation, Republicans, who now have a 53-47 majority in the US Senate, want to approve the package with a simple majority. For most laws to pass the chamber, 60 votes are needed. However, the measure encountered obstacles this week when a Senate lawmaker decided that some parts of the draft language, including several planned cutbacks to Medicaid, the government health insurance program for low-income individuals, were forbidden under this process.
