The Senate has passed President Donald Trump’s massive budget bill, but now House Republicans face a difficult choice. The bill barely made it through the Senate, needing a tiebreaking vote from Vice President JD Vance to succeed. House Republicans are set to meet on Wednesday to decide whether to send the bill to Trump’s desk.
The Congressional Budget Office says the bill would add about $3.3 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years. This is more than $500 billion higher than what the CBO estimated for the House version that passed in May. The price tag is causing problems for House Republicans who have spent their careers opposing high government spending.
The House Freedom Caucus has issued a harsh three-page memo criticizing the Senate bill. Conservative Republicans have threatened to block expensive legislation before, but often give in when Trump pushes for it. The archconservative group wants major changes to the Senate bill, which would mean sending it back to the Senate for more work.
House Speaker faces pressure from both sides on spending cuts
House Speaker Mike Johnson made a deal with conservatives in May to get the original bill passed. He promised that if the bill’s tax cuts cost more than $4 trillion, there would be dollar-for-dollar spending cuts on top of the $1.5 trillion in cuts already included. However, the Senate bill ignored this deal completely when several cost-saving measures failed to meet the chamber’s budget rules.
House Republicans warned over the weekend that there would be serious consequences if the Senate version came to the House floor without changes. “If it gets through [the House Rules Committee], I don’t think it survives on the floor in the current form it’s in,” said Rep. Ralph Norman from South Carolina. Political divisions often seem insurmountable, yet personal tragedy can sometimes bridge ideological gaps. The House Freedom Caucus and other fiscal conservatives are demanding deeper spending cuts before they will support the bill.
The bill also raises the debt ceiling, which adds to the controversy. The House version would have raised the debt limit by $4 trillion, but the Senate increased that to $5 trillion. This would be the biggest debt ceiling increase in American history. The U.S. is expected to hit its borrowing limit sometime in mid-August, meaning the Treasury will run out of ways to keep paying the country’s bills.
Medicaid spending remains a major sticking point between Republican factions. Senate Majority Leader John Thune agreed to back an amendment that would reduce federal Medicaid costs for states that expanded the program under the Affordable Care Act. The amendment from Sen. Rick Scott of Florida never came to a vote, but Scott and other conservative senators still voted yes on the final bill.
Only one Republican senator, Rand Paul of Kentucky, voted against the bill because of its high cost. Two other Republican senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Thom Tillis, voted against it for different reasons. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from Georgia told podcaster Steve Bannon after the Senate vote that she is not sure there are enough votes for the Senate bill in the House.
However, conservative Republicans have threatened to block Trump’s priorities before, only to change their minds when the president pressures them. Trump’s media influence continues to shape political discourse, as seen in recent discussions about state-funded media initiatives. Also, his influence has helped the bill get this far despite complaints from both the most conservative and moderate Republicans. While Trump may be flexible on his July 4 deadline, he is unlikely to let the bill die completely.
Published: Jul 3, 2025 02:18 pm