The Senate has passed Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill on July 1

The Republican-led Senate has passed President Donald Trump’s big beautiful bill on Tuesday, enacting his tax and spending priorities. The legislation was 50-50, with Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote.

The legislation, known by the GOP as the big, beautiful bill, passed 51-50 after a multi-day process that kicked off Saturday evening and ended with a 24-hour vote-a-rama. The big, beautiful bill will now return to the House of Representatives, which passed its version of the bill last month.

MAGA VICTORY: The United States Senate PASSES President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill 🇺🇸🦅🎉 pic.twitter.com/28JThZW5z0

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 1, 2025

Bill raises concerns about its impact on U.S. deficit

Three Republicans voted against the measure, including Kentucky’s Rand Paul, Susan Collins of Maine, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. The legislation would extend the tax cuts that were passed by Republicans in 2017, preventing a potential surge in rates at the end of the year when the current provisions are set to expire.

At the last moment, Senate Republicans doubled the size of a new fund to improve rural health care access to $50 billion – a move to secure Collins’ support. Collins had previously offered an amendment to increase the funding to $50 billion, but it was rejected 78 to 22, with most Democrats voting against it.

Lawmakers argued that the Medicaid initiative risked the collapse of many rural hospitals, where they agreed on the new $50B fund to support rural hospitals. According to the Senate, the program would begin in 2026, and funds would be spread out over five years. 

The legislation will make changes to the Medicaid program by imposing work requirements and eventually lowering provider taxes from 6% to 3.5%. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the changes to Medicaid would result in nearly 12 million fewer people with health insurance over the next decade.

The Senate also passed an amendment to remove the 10-year moratorium on state regulation of AI by 99-1, with only Tillis voting against it. The majority of the amendments forced by Democrats on everything from bolstering Medicaid to gutting tax cuts for wealthy earners all failed on the floor.

Speaker Mike Johnson is also calling House Republicans back from recess while targeting a Wednesday vote to try to meet Trump’s July 4 deadline. Johnson stated that the House would work fast to clear the bill, adding that Republicans are ready to finish the job and put the bill on President Trump’s desk in time for Independence Day.

“With this legislation, we’re fulfilling the mandate we were entrusted with last November and setting our country and the American people up to be safer, stronger, and more prosperous.”

-John Thune, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the legislation would add roughly $3.3 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years. The White House disapproved of the forecast, arguing it would instead decrease the deficit by over $5 trillion when combined with other growth efforts.

The legislation also raises the debt ceiling by $5 trillion, providing $175 billion for border security and $150 billion for defense. The bill temporarily hikes the cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions to $40,000 before reverting to the current $10,000 cap after 5 years.

Senate seeks to remove tax on solar and wind energy projects

US SENATE INTENDS TO DROP WIND, SOLAR EXCISE TAX FROM BUDGET BILL, SOURCES SAY

SENATE INTENDS TO ALLOW RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS TO EARN TAX CREDIT BASED ON CONSTRUCTION START ONE YEAR AFTER BILL ENACTMENT, SOURCES SAY

— *Walter Bloomberg (@DeItaone) July 1, 2025

Republicans are also pushing to remove the tax on solar and wind energy projects as part of their budget megabill. Their final amendment to finish last-minute changes to the budget reconciliation bill included a compromise for Senate holdouts by removing the tax and providing a pushback from the tax credit phase-out for solar and wind projects that begin construction less than one year after the bill’s approval. 

The amendment detailed that solar and wind projects would still have to be placed in service by the end of 2027. The amendment would also make changes to complex requirements prohibiting sourcing from foreign entities of concern that companies considered unworkable.

The excise tax on solar and wind generation projects was quietly added to the Senate’s budget reconciliation text last week. The bill requires solar and wind projects seeking the Inflation Reduction Act’s tax credits to commence construction within one year after the date of the legislation’s enactment to qualify for credits. Projects that begin construction after that period need to be placed into service before the end of 2027 to qualify for the credit.

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