The large tax cut bill 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' promoted by President Donald Trump narrowly passed the United States Senate.
On the 1st (local time), the bill passed the Senate after a tie vote of 50 in favor and 50 against, with the tie-breaking vote cast by Vice President JD Vance, who also serves as Senate President.
In the United States Senate, the Vice President, who is the President of the Senate, has the authority as a tiebreaker in the event of a tie.
Vice President Vance is said to have been on standby in the Senate since early in the morning.
Currently, the United States Senate has 53 seats held by the Republican Party and 47 seats by the Democratic Party (including independents who lean Democratic), with all Democratic members voting against the bill. Three Republicans who have consistently opposed it, including Thomas Tillis (North Carolina), Rand Paul (Kentucky), and Susan Collins (Maine), also voted against it.
Republican Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), who had taken a cautious stance, met with leadership just before the vote, and after the bill was amended to benefit the state of Alaska, she shifted to support the bill.
Having passed the Senate, this bill will need to go through another vote in the House of Representatives due to several amendments made during the deliberation process. However, since passing the Senate was considered the biggest hurdle, this result is seen as a significant achievement.
The bill, which includes various tax cut measures such as ▲reduction of personal income tax rates ▲reduction of corporate tax rates ▲increase of standard deductions and child tax credits, as well as ▲welfare budget cuts ▲funding for illegal immigration prevention, faced strong opposition not only from the Democratic Party but also from some Republican members, making its passage uncertain.
The Senate passage process was also challenging. When the official discussion procedure began on the 29th, a detailed reading of the 940-page bill led by Democrats took 16 hours, and the official debate continued until early morning on the 30th. The final vote was preceded by a last-minute unlimited amendment process known as 'Vote-a-Rama,' which started after 9 a.m.
While visiting an illegal immigrant detention facility in Florida and holding a meeting, President Trump reported that upon hearing the news of the bill's passage in the Senate, he said, 'Wow, thank you. I was waiting to hear that wonderful word. That's music to my ears.'
Later, on his social media platform Truth Social, he reflected, 'There is so much to be proud of, and everyone has achieved a major policy victory.'
The bill will move to the House of Representatives, and once passed and signed by President Trump, it will be finalized into law and enacted. The House is scheduled to discuss and vote on the bill on the 2nd.
The House Republican leadership stated, 'We will work to pass President Trump's full America First policy through the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' and aims to have the bill on the President's desk by the 4th.' Trump has been pressuring for the bill's passage by Independence Day on the 4th.
The House comprises 220 Republican seats and 212 Democratic seats, so the ruling Republican Party has an advantage over the Senate, but U.S. media is cautious regarding the possibility of a re-vote.
The New York Times (NYT) pointed out that 'none of the Senate amendments gained support from House Republican members, particularly the hardline members.'