Republicans moving ahead with Trump’s ‘big’ bill of tax breaks and spending cuts amid tariff uproar

WASHINGTON AP After a long wait the Senate is launching action on President Donald Trump s big beautiful bill of tax breaks and spending cuts at a risky moment for the U S and global financial market More than a month after House Republicans surprised Washington by advancing their framework for Trump s trillion in tax breaks and trillion in spending cuts Senate Republicans voted Thursday to start working on their version The largely party-line vote - sets the stage for a probable Senate all-nighter Friday spilling into the weekend But work on the multitrillion-dollar package is coming as markets at home and abroad are on edge in the aftermath Trump s vast tariffs scheme complicating an already arduous political and procedural undertaking on what Republicans hope will become their signature domestic strategy package Senate Majority Leader John Thune R-S D opened the chamber Thursday saying they expected to be ready to begin Trump says he s on board with the plan and Republicans in control of Congress are eager to show the party is making progress toward delivering on their campaign promises By nightfall as voting began one Republican the libertarian-leaning Sen Rand Paul of Kentucky voted against as did all Democrats Democrats as the minority party don t have the votes to stop the GOP plan But they intend to use the procedural tools available to prolong the process Democrats argue that Republicans are focusing on tax breaks for the wealthy at the expense of the programs and services millions of Americans rely on for help with wellness care child care school lunches and other everyday requirements They re mean they re nasty they re uncaring Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer declared about the Republicans We tonight and the following day are going to show just who they are Senate Democrats started consuming up to hours of their available debate time holding the floor into the night and railing against prospective GOP cuts to Medicaid veterans programs DOGE cuts and the impact of Trump s tariffs Sen Jeff Merkley of Oregon the ranking Democrat on the Budget committee repeated a slogan he has been sharing Families lose and billionaires win That he stated is the Republican plan Fundamental to the Senate package is making sure Trump s first-term tax cuts which are set to expire at the end of the year are continued and made a permanent fixture of the tax code The senators also will consider adding Trump s proposed tax cuts on tipped wages Social Guard income and others The Senate package also would bolster demarcation safety funds by various billion to carry out Trump s mass deportation campaign which is running short of cash and it would add national shield funds for the Pentagon all priorities the Senate GOP tucked into an earlier version that was panned by House Republicans Republican Sen John Barrasso of Wyoming the party whip noted that without action tax cuts would expire becoming a trillion tax hike on Americans Republicans are focused on getting America back on track he announced What s unclear is how it will all be paid for since Republican deficit hawks typically require spending offsets to help defray the lost tax revenue and avoid piling onto the nation s trillion debt load While House Republicans approved their package with trillion in tax breaks and up to trillion in spending cuts the Senate Republicans are taking a different tack Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham is making the scenario that since the existing Trump tax breaks are the current guidelines they are not considered new and do not need to be offset with reductions in spending an approach Democrats compare to going nuclear with the normal rules particularly if the strategy is put to the test with an unfavorable ruling before the Senate parliamentarian Instead Senate Republicans are considering offsets mostly for any new Trump tax breaks Raising alarms from the bulk conservative budget hawks the senators have set a floor of about billion in budget reductions to robustness and other programs a fraction of the package s expected trillion-plus price tag for tax breaks GOP leaders are assuring the deficit hawks within their own ranks that the decree says the cuts can rise to as much as trillion After an expected Friday night vote-a-rama with dozens of amendments being offered to the package the senators are planning to stay into Saturday if needed to take a final vote to approve it sending it to the House for action The House and Senate will ultimately need to merge their frameworks into a final product expected in May but House Speaker Mike Johnson s intention to have it all wrapped up by Memorial Day could prove optimistic The political conditions is uncertain and the population s appetite for steep budget cuts is being tested in real time with Trump s Department of Administration Efficiency headed by billionaire Elon Musk blazing through federal offices firing thousands of workers and shuttering long-running cabinet mainstays from scientific research projects on diseases to educational services for schoolchildren to offices that help with Social Defense tax filing and the weather At the same time the staunchest fiscal conservatives in both the House and Senate multiple aligned with the Freedom Caucus are pushing for even more cuts Trump stated senators publicly and privately this week he would have their backs particularly when it comes to standing up for the spending reductions At a White House announcing the tariffs Wednesday Trump mentioned the Senate plan had his complete and total backing The president s steep tariffs threw the global commercial sector into a tailspin Thursday with stocks down around the world the U S markets leading the way