Senate Republicans neared a deal to pass President Donald Trump’s massive tax and immigration agenda, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Tuesday, after a marathon 25-hour session during which the GOP struggled to secure support for the measure.
Trump has demanded that Congress send the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — his top legislative priority — to his desk by July 4, but that deadline seemed to be slipping from reach Tuesday. Even if the Senate passes the $3.3 trillion bill, House Republicans would still need to overcome their divisions and pass it again before Trump can sign it.
The legislation would extend tax cuts from Trump’s first term, cut more than $1.1 trillion from Medicaid and other health-care programs, and infuse billions of dollars into immigration enforcement and defense. It would also raise the nation’s borrowing limit, which Congress must do in the coming weeks to avoid default.
Republicans can lose only three GOP votes and still pass the measure. One holdout, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), abruptly announced Sunday that he would not seek another term next year after Trump torched him for opposing the bill’s Medicaid cuts. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who is also up for reelection next year, has said she is also deeply concerned about the bill’s impact on health-care coverage. And Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) has said for weeks that he will not support the measure because it lifts the nation’s borrowing limit by too much without cutting spending adequately.
