By Brendan Scanland
WASHINGTON, D.C. — This week, senators are back in Washington with Senate Republicans working to advance President Trump’s “One, Big, Beautiful Bill” — a sweeping package that blends tax cuts with controversial reforms and debt ceiling measures.
“We’re anxious to get to work on it,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), on Tuesday. “We are going to get this done one way or the other.”
There are two main reasons a handful of GOP holdouts are on the fence about supporting the sweeping bill. The first is spending levels and the second is major changes and potential cuts for vital programs like Medicaid.
“We have members who have their own opinions about how to do this. But at the end of the day, the math is very simple. It’s 51 in the Senate and 218 in the House in order to get a bill on the president’s desk. As we work through that process, we’re going to have our eye on that prize,” Thune said.
Senators like Rand Paul (R-KY) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) have raised concerns with the proposed increase to the debt ceiling and overall spending. On the other hand, senators like Josh Hawley (R-MO), Lisa Murkowski, (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME), have cited serious concerns with the controversial Medicaid changes that could leave many low-income Americans without health coverage.
The legislation, which already cleared the House, includes a $4 trillion debt ceiling increase. The Senate’s own budget plan proposes an even larger $5 trillion increase.
That’s a red flag for Sen. Rand Paul, who’s a firm “No,” despite pressure from President Trump to back the bill. Paul says he supports sweeping tax cuts within the bill, but won’t support it unless the debt ceiling increase is stripped out.
Democrats are united in opposition to what they call tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy, paid by gutting health care and food assistance for millions of Americans.
“Fourteen million Americans will lose health care as they decimate Medicaid and now try to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. This is an anti-health care bill, not just an anti-Medicaid bill,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). “Eleven million Americans, four million kids could lose access to federal food assistance.”
“What they are going to be fighting against is border security, modernizing our military, making America energy dominant. And they are going to be voting for the largest tax increase in American history,” said Leader Thune responding to criticism from Democrats.
The “Big, Beautiful Bill” is not only drawing criticism from Democrats and conservative fiscal hawks, but also from the president’s now-former DOGE advisor, Elon Musk.
“This massive, outrageous, pork-filled congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination,” Musk said in an X post Tuesday. “Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”
“We respect everything that Elon did with DOGE. On this particular issue, we have a difference of opinion,” said Thune when asked about Musk’s post.
The Senate is expected to take a few weeks to make changes to the bill before voting on it. At the same time, Thune will have to bridge divides among his members.
“There’s a lot of work ahead of us. We know that none of this is easy. There are, as I’ve said before, a ton of moving parts. But at the end of the day, failure is not an option,” said Thune. “We have a planned schedule in which to complete it, and we’ll try and stay on that. But obviously, we’re going to take a lot of input from our members and make sure that as we go through this process, it’s done in a way that incorporates the views of Republican senators.”
