Senate GOP approves framework for Trump's tax breaks and spending cuts
after late-night session
[April 05, 2025]
By LISA MASCARO, LEAH ASKARINAM and KEVIN FREKING
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans plugged away overnight and into
early Saturday morning to approve their multitrillion-dollar tax breaks
and spending cuts framework, hurtling past hardened Democratic
opposition toward what President Donald Trump calls the “big, beautiful
bill” that's central to his agenda.
The vote, 51-48, fell along mostly party lines, but with sharp dissent
from two prominent GOP senators. It could not have come at a more
difficult political moment. The U.S. economy is churning after Trump's
vast tariff scheme sent stocks plummeting, and experts are warning of
soaring costs for consumers at home and threats of a potential
recession. Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of
Kentucky both voted against.
But with a nod from Trump, GOP leaders held on, determined to march
ahead. Approval paves the way for Republicans, in the months ahead, to
try to power a tax cut bill through both chambers of Congress over the
objections of Democrats, just as they did in Trump’s first term with
unified party control in Washington.
“Let the voting begin," Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said
Friday night.
The evening kicked off what's called vote-a-rama as Democrats were
intent on making the effort as politically painful as possible, with
action on some two dozen amendments to the package that GOP senators
will have to defend before next year’s midterm elections.
Among them were proposals to ban tax breaks for the super-wealthy, end
Trump's tariffs, clip his efforts to shrink the federal government and
protect Medicaid, Social Security and other services. One, in response
to the Trump national security team's use of Signal, sought to prohibit
military officials from using any commercial messaging application to
transmit war plans. They all failed, though a GOP amendment to protect
Medicare and Medicaid was accepted.
Democrats accused Republicans of laying the groundwork for cutting key
safety net programs to help pay for more than $5 trillion tax cuts they
say disproportionately benefit the rich.
“Trump's policies are a disaster," said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck
Schumer of New York, as is Elon Musk's Department of Government
Efficiency. “Republicans could snuff it out tonight, if they wanted.”
The Republicans framed their work as preventing a tax increase for most
American families, arguing that unless Congress acts, the individual and
estate tax cuts that Republicans passed in 2017 will expire at the end
of this year.
The Senate package pulls in other GOP priorities — including $175
billion to bolster Trump's mass deportation effort, which is running
short of cash, and another $175 billion for the Pentagon to build up the
military — from an earlier budget effort.
Sen. John Barrasso, the No. 2 ranking GOP senator, said voters gave
Republicans a mission in November, and the Senate budget plan delivers.
“It fulfills our promises to secure the border, to rebuild our economy
and to restore peace through strength,” Barrasso said.
The framework now goes to the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.,
could bring it up for a vote as soon as next week as he works toward a
final product by Memorial Day.
The House and Senate need to resolve their differences. The House
Republicans had already approved their version, with $4.5 trillion in
tax breaks over 10 years and some $2 trillion in budget cuts pointed at
changes to Medicaid, food stamps and other programs, and some have
panned the Senate's approach.
Throughout the day, the debate was generally one-sided, as Democrats
took full advantage of the all-night voting frenzy. Pizza was wheeled in
on a cart, for Republicans. Tacos, for Democrats.
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Committee chairman Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., speaks during a hearing of
the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
on Capitol Hill, Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Washington. (AP
Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Republicans used their majority to swat back the Democrats'
amendments, often in rambunctious voice votes. A few Democratic
proposals, however, did draw some GOP support, including those to
protect health care, Social Security and the bargaining rights of
federal workers, a potential sign of unrest ahead.
Collins said she voted against the full package because potential
Medicaid cuts in the underlying House bill “would be very
detrimental to a lot of families and disabled individuals and
seniors in my state.”
And Paul questioned the math being used by his colleagues that he
said would pile on the debt load. “Something's fishy,” he said.
One Republican, Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, expressed his own
misgivings about tax breaks adding to the federal deficits and said
he has assurances that Trump officials would seek the cuts
elsewhere.
“This vote isn’t taking place in a vacuum,” he said, a nod to the
turmoil over Trump’s tariffs.
One crucial challenge ahead will be for the House to accept the way
the Senate’s budget plan allows for extending the tax cuts under a
scoring method that treats them as not adding to future deficits,
something many House Republicans reject. A new estimate from the
Joint Committee on Taxation projects the tax breaks will add $5.5
trillion over the next decade when including interest, and $4.6
trillion not including interest.
On top of that, the senators added an additional $1.5 trillion that
would allow some of Trump’s campaign promises, such as no taxes on
tips, Social Security benefits and overtime, swelling the overall
the price tag to $7 trillion.
Republicans are also looking to increase the $10,000 deduction for
state and local taxes, something that lawmakers from states such as
New York, California and New Jersey say is necessary for their
support.
The House and Senate are also at odds over increasing the debt limit
to allow more borrowing. The House had boosted the debt limit by $4
trillion in its plan, but the Senate upped it to $5 trillion to push
any further votes on the matter until after next year’s midterm
elections.
The Senate calls for just $4 billion in spending cuts, but GOP
leadership emphasizes that's a low floor and that committees will be
on the hunt for far more.
Already, the GOP leaders are confronting concerns from fiscal hawks
in deep red states and congressional districts who want trillions of
dollars in spending cuts to help pay for the tax breaks. At the same
time, dozens of lawmakers in swing districts and states are worried
about what those cuts will mean for their constituents, and for
their reelection chances.
The GOP leadership has encouraged members to just get a budget plan
over the finish line, saying they have time to work out the tough
questions of which tax breaks and spending cuts to include.
Extending the the 2017 breaks would cut taxes for about
three-quarters of households but raise them for about 10%. In 2027,
about 45% of the benefit of all the tax cuts would go to those
making roughly $450,000 or more, according to the Urban-Brookings
Tax Policy Center, which analyzes tax issues.
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