"BBB" revised to include more tax cuts
- Alexangel Ventura
- Jun 16
- 2 min read
The so-called "Big, Beautiful Bill" has been revised to include much greater tax cuts at the expense of the healthcare budget.
The "BBB" was touted by the Trump administration as the key to economic success as it justified its passage with their electoral mandate from the 2024 presidential election, where 49.9% of participating voters chose an agenda of greater tax reductions and spending cuts. The bill included tax breaks on tips, social security, and overtime for eligible citizens, but it also did far more than just that to promote fiscal Republican policies: it codified the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 into law and adding additional tax cuts to that on all groups of Americans, with the wealthy receiving the greatest benefits. However, contrary to what President Trump and others promised in 2024, the healthcare budget will be cut to pay for these expenses, which got many Americans, particularly Democrats, upset.
Although the bill passed in the House of Representatives via a one-vote majority, it has remained deadlocked in the U.S. Senate after Elon Musk rallied a small but influential group of senators to oppose the bill, namely Senator Rand Paul. Musk, Paul, and others cited increases to the budget deficit which the bill would cause, which even Medicare cuts could not prevent.
Trump and his Republican allies in Congress, fearing the narrow failing of the bill, are seeking compromise to achieve success.
Josh Hawley has been an outspoken critic of the bill in its unrefined state, instead calling for a similar bill without cuts to healthcare. "This bill needs a lot of work," Hawley said to reporters on Monday. "This will close hospitals in rural [Missouri and other states] America."
Paul, the leader of the opposition movement within party lines to the Republican bill, told NBC News' Meet the Press yesterday, "I’ve let [Trump] know that I’m not an absolute ‘no,’ I can be a ‘yes.' I like the tax cuts… I think there should be more spending cuts, but if they want my vote they’ll have to negotiate, because I don’t want a vote to raise the debt ceiling $5 trillion."
The updated bill would include the same cuts to healthcare but also increased tax cuts and a higher increase to the debt ceiling.
"We understand that it’s [the 'BBB'] a negotiation," proclaimed Senate Majority Leader John Thune. "Obviously, there had to be some marker. We are prepared to have discussions with our [Republican] colleagues here in the Senate and figure out a landing spot."
