U.S. senators were bogged down in a marathon session of amendment votes Monday (June 30, 2025) as Republicans sought to pass Donald Trump's flagship spending bill, an unpopular package expected to slash social welfare programs and add an eye-watering $3 trillion to the national debt.
U.S. President Trump wants the "One Big Beautiful Bill" to extend his expiring first-term tax cuts at a cost of $4.
5 trillion, boost military spending and fund his plans for unprecedented mass deportations and border security. But senators eyeing 2026 midterm congressional elections are divided over savings that would strip around $1 trillion in subsidized health care from millions of the poorest Americans and add more than $3.3 trillion to the nation's already yawning budget deficits over a decade.
Mr. Trump wants to have the package on his desk by the time Independence Day festivities begin on Friday. The process had ground to a glacial pace by early evening, however, after members considering dozens of amendments as part of the so-called "vote-a-rama" required before final passage managed to complete only 14 votes in the first seven hours.
With little sign of the pace picking up ahead of a final floor vote that could be delayed until well into the early hours of Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called for Republican resolve. "Republicans need to stay tough and unified during the home stretch and we are counting on them to get the job done," she told reporters at the White .