The Senate has passed President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” after 27 hours of deliberation.
The budget bill, H.R. 1, passed the Senate by a vote of 50 to 51, with Vice President J.D. Vance casting the tie-breaking vote. Now, the bill will head to the Republican-dominated House of Representatives.
The bill “reduces taxes,” increases the debt limit, adjusts federal spending on various programs, and “addresses agencies and programs throughout the federal government.”
The White House called the bill the “most pro-American worker bill in history,” and said it will cut “waste, fraud, and abuse” from programs like Medicaid. According to Susan B. Anthony List, the bill also cuts federal taxpayer funding of abortion for one year.
The bill initially would have banned states from enforcing artificial intelligence-related laws for a decade. But as The Dallas Express reported, Texas state Sen. Angela Paxton – wife of Attorney General Ken Paxton – called to remove the provision, saying it would impede Texas’ work preventing child pornography. Ultimately, Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn stripped the provision from the bill.
Elon Musk criticized the bill as “the biggest debt increase in history,” and denounced members of Congress who voted to pass it.
“Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame,” he posted to X. “And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.”