Politics

/

ArcaMax

Senate GOP passes budget bill Democrats describe as 'a disaster'

Tia Mitchell, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on

Published in Political News

WASHINGTON — Republicans in the U.S. Senate have passed the “big, beautiful bill” championed by President Donald Trump, with Vice President JD Vance casting tiebreaking vote after three GOP members voted “no” with Democrats.

The wide-ranging package extends tax cuts and slashes federal spending on safety net programs. The vote was initially delayed as Republican leaders worked to get enough support in their party to pass the measure.

Before the vote, the Senate spent roughly 24 hours considering dozens of amendments. Most of them were filed by Democrats and failed on mostly party-line votes, but they allowed Democrats to rail against the nearly 1,000-page package and highlight provisions they say will benefit the rich while hurting the poor.

“This bill is an unmitigated catastrophe for Georgia,” U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., said in an interview Monday. “It is a disaster for Georgians’ health care. It is a disaster for Georgia industry. And it will add trillions of dollars to the national debt.”

Ossoff unsuccessfully attempted to pass an amendment that would have added language to the bill reauthorizing certain Affordable Care Act tax credits that are currently being allowed to expired.

His colleague and fellow Georgia Democrat, U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, introduced an amendment that would have restored clean energy tax credits that Republicans are eliminating in the bill. That also failed.

Warnock, Ossoff and the other 45 members in the Democratic caucus all opposed the legislation.

They were joined by three Republicans: U.S. Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Susan Collins of Maine.

Paul has said for months that he believes the bill adds too much to the federal deficit and is opposed. Tillis and Collins opposed the Medicaid and green energy cuts.

Vance made an unscheduled appearance at the Capitol Tuesday morning to meet with GOP senators before the 51-50 vote.

 

Trump has been vocal about wanting the legislation to be approved sometime around the July Fourth holiday,

The bill now moves back to the House, which narrowly approved a different version in May. Some of the changes made in the Senate, such as steeper cuts to Medicaid and a softer phaseout of clean energy incentives, might make it harder for House Republicans to support the bill.

The Senate bill also adds about $1 trillion more to the national debt than the House version, angering many fiscal conservatives.

Georgia Rep. Andrew Clyde said he is waiting to see what comes out of the Senate before he decides how he will vote later this week when the House is expected to take up the measure.

Clyde, who represents northeast Georgia, fought for provisions removing taxes and regulations on gun silencers to be added to the House bill. The Senate bill initially went even further by also deregulating short-barrel shotguns and other types of firearms. But all of that language was taken out after the Senate parliamentarian ruled the provisions cannot remain in the larger bill if Republicans want to pass it without facing the 60-vote filibuster.

Clyde, R-Ga., is also unhappy that the clean energy tax credits won’t be phased out as quickly in the Senate bill compared to what the House approved.

While Clyde’s support is uncertain, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., is likely to back the bill now that the Senate stripped out language prohibiting states from regulating artificial intelligence for 10 years. Removing the provision had nearly universal support and was approved 99-1 with only Tillis in opposition.

Greene had supported the bill during the May vote, but said she was unaware of the AI language and would not support the bill moving forward unless that provision was removed.

_____


©2025 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Visit at ajc.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

Comments

blog comments powered by Disqus

 

Related Channels

The ACLU

ACLU

By The ACLU
Amy Goodman

Amy Goodman

By Amy Goodman
Armstrong Williams

Armstrong Williams

By Armstrong Williams
Austin Bay

Austin Bay

By Austin Bay
Ben Shapiro

Ben Shapiro

By Ben Shapiro
Betsy McCaughey

Betsy McCaughey

By Betsy McCaughey
Bill Press

Bill Press

By Bill Press
Bonnie Jean Feldkamp

Bonnie Jean Feldkamp

By Bonnie Jean Feldkamp
Cal Thomas

Cal Thomas

By Cal Thomas
Christine Flowers

Christine Flowers

By Christine Flowers
Clarence Page

Clarence Page

By Clarence Page
Danny Tyree

Danny Tyree

By Danny Tyree
David Harsanyi

David Harsanyi

By David Harsanyi
Debra Saunders

Debra Saunders

By Debra Saunders
Dennis Prager

Dennis Prager

By Dennis Prager
Dick Polman

Dick Polman

By Dick Polman
Erick Erickson

Erick Erickson

By Erick Erickson
Froma Harrop

Froma Harrop

By Froma Harrop
Jacob Sullum

Jacob Sullum

By Jacob Sullum
Jamie Stiehm

Jamie Stiehm

By Jamie Stiehm
Jeff Robbins

Jeff Robbins

By Jeff Robbins
Jessica Johnson

Jessica Johnson

By Jessica Johnson
Jim Hightower

Jim Hightower

By Jim Hightower
Joe Conason

Joe Conason

By Joe Conason
Joe Guzzardi

Joe Guzzardi

By Joe Guzzardi
John Micek

John Micek

By John Micek
John Stossel

John Stossel

By John Stossel
Josh Hammer

Josh Hammer

By Josh Hammer
Judge Andrew P. Napolitano

Judge Andrew Napolitano

By Judge Andrew P. Napolitano
Laura Hollis

Laura Hollis

By Laura Hollis
Marc Munroe Dion

Marc Munroe Dion

By Marc Munroe Dion
Michael Barone

Michael Barone

By Michael Barone
Mona Charen

Mona Charen

By Mona Charen
Rachel Marsden

Rachel Marsden

By Rachel Marsden
Rich Lowry

Rich Lowry

By Rich Lowry
Robert B. Reich

Robert B. Reich

By Robert B. Reich
Ruben Navarrett Jr.

Ruben Navarrett Jr

By Ruben Navarrett Jr.
Ruth Marcus

Ruth Marcus

By Ruth Marcus
S.E. Cupp

S.E. Cupp

By S.E. Cupp
Salena Zito

Salena Zito

By Salena Zito
Star Parker

Star Parker

By Star Parker
Stephen Moore

Stephen Moore

By Stephen Moore
Susan Estrich

Susan Estrich

By Susan Estrich
Ted Rall

Ted Rall

By Ted Rall
Terence P. Jeffrey

Terence P. Jeffrey

By Terence P. Jeffrey
Tim Graham

Tim Graham

By Tim Graham
Tom Purcell

Tom Purcell

By Tom Purcell
Veronique de Rugy

Veronique de Rugy

By Veronique de Rugy
Victor Joecks

Victor Joecks

By Victor Joecks
Wayne Allyn Root

Wayne Allyn Root

By Wayne Allyn Root

Comics

A.F. Branco Lee Judge John Deering Adam Zyglis Jack Ohman Chip Bok