U.S. Senate passes Trump's "BBB"

Alexangel Ventura
Jul 1
2 min read

The United States Senate, after several weeks of constant debate and modifications, passed President Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" into law on Tuesday.

Vice President and President of the Senate J.D. Vance.

The bill came very much down to the wire, with a tie (50-50) vote being realized essentially along partisan lines. Three Republicans (Susan Collins, Thom Tillis, and Rand Paul) voted against the bill, all three citing concerns regarding cuts to SNAP and healthcare. Lisa Murkowski, the fourth moderate Republican who was initially against the bill, achieved a compromise giving Alaska exemptions to the SNAP cuts, thus leading to her voting for the bill. If Murkowski voted against the bill, it wouldn't have been able to reach to J.D. Vance's tiebreaking vote.

The bill is a clear victory for Republicans who have been calling for such a grand reform to tax policy since the beginning of Joe Biden's presidency. The bill is set to cut trillions in taxes on all groups of Americans, but with the richest 20% of earners realizing most of the savings. It would also cut over a trillion from the national healthcare budget, specifically Medicare, which would reduce benefits for millions and lead to 50,000 deaths, according to Senator Bernie Sanders who cited a study conducted by researchers from Yale and the University of Pennsylvania.

The bill has been received very poorly by fellow politicians and Americans alike. A poll conducted by nonpartisan health research group KFF showed that a majority of 64% of Americans have an unfavorable view of the bill. A significant resistance movement on both sides, led by Democrats and former Trump ally Elon Musk, made the Senate vote far closer than it initially seemed. Some of these same individuals are now calling for Trump's impeachment.

Stocks generally rose today as investors were hyped by greater tax cuts on companies. However, most other Americans are unhappy, especially those who are not in the top 20% (or even 1%) of earners in the country, as shown by the poll.