President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful” tax and budget bill has a problem in the Senate –– fiscal conservatives. The bill is projected to add $3.8 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade, and multiple lawmakers say that’s unacceptable, adding that there are enough opposed to halt its progress.
“I think we have enough to stop the process until the president gets serious about the spending reduction and reducing the deficit,” Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “We are mortgaging our children’s future. It’s wrong. It’s immoral. It has to stop.”
How much do they want to reduce spending?
Johnson said federal spending should go back to pre-pandemic levels. The government spent $4.4 trillion in 2019. In 2024, it increased to $6.8 trillion. Even when adjusting for inflation, that’s still an increase of more than $1 trillion.
More than 70% of the money goes toward programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, in addition to interest payments on the national debt. Another 13% is for national defense, leaving a combined 14% for programs that are considered “discretionary.”
What cuts does the bill currently include?
Republicans are getting the bulk of their savings in this bill through work requirements for both Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Adults without disabilities and dependents will have to work 80 hours per month to qualify. The Medicaid and SNAP adjustments are estimated to save approximately $1 trillion.
If you’d like to review Trump’s tax and budget bill, click here.
“I think the cuts currently in the bill are wimpy and anemic, but I still would support the bill even with wimpy and anemic cuts, if they weren’t going to explode the debt,” Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said during a May 25 appearance on “Fox News Sunday.”
“The problem is the math doesn’t add up,” Paul continued. “They’re going to explode the debt by, the House says, $4 trillion. The Senate’s actually been talking about exploding the debt $5 trillion.”
What does Trump say?
Trump had a few priorities that didn’t make it through the House. For instance, he wanted to end the carried interest loophole, which allows investment fund managers to link some of their compensation to capital gains so it gets taxed at a lower rate. Trump also sought to establish a new tax bracket for those earning $2.5 million or more. He didn’t get either of those.
“I want the Senate and the senators to make the changes they want,” Trump told reporters over the weekend of Friday, May 23. “It will go back to the House, and we’ll see if we can get them. In some cases, those changes may be something I’d agree with, to be honest. I think they are going to have changes. Some will be minor, some will be fairly significant.”
Can it get back through the House?
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., asked the Senate to keep the changes to a minimum during a meeting with Senate Republicans earlier in May. The bill passed the House by a single vote. Further cuts could alienate moderates while dialing back the spending reductions could be a turn-off for fiscal hawks. The House will have to reapprove the bill after the Senate makes changes.
“I encouraged them to remember that we have a very delicate equilibrium that we reached up here,” Johnson told reporters after the House passed the bill. “A lot of work went into this to find the right balance.”
Congressional leadership hopes to have the bill on Trump’s desk by July 4, believing the timetable is doable.
