The sprawling legislation to enact President Donald J. Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” agenda is losing momentum in the Senate in the face of blistering attacks from Elon Musk and outspoken opposition from conservatives as the Congressional Budget Office projected Wednesday that the 1,116-page bill passed by the House will add $2.4 trillion to the deficit over the next decade. President Trump has set a July 4th deadline for Congress to get the bill to his desk, but some GOP lawmakers say that’s looking increasingly unlikely because of a battle between Republican senators over cuts to Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the repeal of renewable energy tax incentives as well as the state and local tax deduction (SALT). Republicans from states with high taxes like New York and California pushed House GOP leadership to further increase that cap to give their constituents a tax break as fiscal hard-liners in the House warned that increasing the cap would increase the deficit. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) has already signaled that the cap that came out of the House probably won’t survive in the Senate, only one of the many factions he has to deal with as the window starts to close on getting a compromise on the entire package. With Senate Republicans controlling 53 seats, they could only afford only three defections and still pass the bill.
For today, the Senate is expected to take up Confirmation of Executive Calendar #144, James O’Neill to be Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services, Confirmation of Executive Calendar #120, John Andrew Eisenberg, to be an Assistant Attorney General and a Motion to invoke cloture on Executive Calendar #111, Brett Shumate, to be an Assistant Attorney General.
The House is expected to take up H.R. 2931 – Save SBA from Sanctuary Cities Act of 2025 as well as H.R. 2987 – CEASE Act of 2025.
