6 events in Passaic County with a date

Senate passes Trump's spending bill

By: Phillip M Bailey
and Savannah Kuchar
USA Today

WASHINGTON - By the narrowest possible margin, the Senate approved President Donald Trump's signature second-term policy bill July 1 [2025] in a major legislative victory for the president after a tense debate with his party.
..... The 900-page measure passed on a 51-50 vote after a weekend [06/28-29/2025] of caustic debate. Three Republicans defected: Susan Collins of Maine, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Rand Paul of Kentucky. that required Vice President JD Vance to break the tie in a dramatic flourish and send the bill back to the House for final approval.
..... Assuming he can muster a majority in the GOP-controlled House, the president is now on the cusp of cementing his second-term agenda into law. The Senate bill reserves the 2017 tax cuts, invests billions into the military and border security and fulfills a major 2024 campaign promise by extending federal tax breaks for low-wage tipped workers, such as waiters and hairstylists. It also deeply cuts the Medicaid health insurance program which prompted bipartisan opposition.
..... Here are the key moments from the legislative approval and what the fallout could be.

Opposition to Medicaid cuts

..... The biggest point of contention was Medicaid, which provides health insurance to more than 71 million low-income Americans.
..... According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office before the Senate bill passed, the upper chamber's plan cuts roughly $1 trillion from Medicaid and would dump about 11.8 million recipients over the next decade. It also has a 4300 billion cut to food stamps.
..... Conservative supporters of the bill defended the reforms as much-needed savings that won't hurt the most vulnerable. The spotlighted efforts to keep sta4es from spending health care funds on undocumented immigrants and defended imposing an 80 hour per month work requirement for able-bodied recipients ages 19 to 64 who don't have dependents.
.... But political observers of various stripes, called out the reductions as unprecedented.
..... "What do I tell 663,000 people in two years or three years when President Trump brakes his promise by pushing them off of Medicaid because the funding is not there>" Tillis asked during a fiery June 29 [2025] Senate floor speech.

Midterm ramifications

..... Speaking of Tillis, the tar Heel State Republican over the weekend [06/28-29/2025] after Trump threatened holdouts with primary challenges - announced he was forgoing his reelection bid in the critical swing state next year. [2026]
..... Lawmakers who pursue bipartisan solutions are an "endangered species" in Washington, he said.
..... Republicans understood the ramifications. "His announcement is a big setback for the Senate and the Republican conference," Senator Mitch McConnell, R- Kentucky wrote on X.
..... for years North Carina has had razor-thin margins in multiple statewide contests and next year's [2026] Senate race was already forecast to be a toss-up by reputable prognosticators such as Larry Sabato at the University of Virginia and the Cook Political Rep rot.

Thune earns leadership stripes

..... Senator John Thune, R-South Dakota, wasn't the Make America Great Again movement's first choice for Senate Majority leader. But the 63-year-old kept most of the GOP herd together and twisted many arms for deliver Trump his defining legislative win.
..... Moderates such as Tillias and Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska pushed back on the Medicaid cuts. Fiscal conservatives said the bill's cuts didn't go far enough; they complained the legislation adds $3.3 trillion to the national deficit over a decade and requires a 45 trillion increase in the debt ceiling. MAGA activists demanded Thune fire the chamber's parliamentarian, who ruled key provisions had to be removed or over hauled because they violated the rules that were used to pass he bill with a simple majority vote, avoiding a filibuster.
..... In the final hours, Thune reportedly was working behind he scenes all night to strike deals on amendments that could secure Republican holdouts such as Murkowski, who ultimate voted for the measure.
..... With the help of Vance's tiebreak, Thune bought himself some credit with the White House.

Musk vows to oppose

..... The Musk-Trump relationship continued to deteriorate as their war of words escalated amid the final hours of Senate debate.
..... Musk, the world's richest person, repeatedly trashed the bill on X. He called out Republican lawmakers, some by name, hwo voted for the bill after campaignng on cutting government spending. he vowed to use his deep pockets against GOP incumbents in the 2026 midterms, And he threatened to from a new party, writing in a June 30 [2025] post that the bill should "that we live in a one-party country p the PORKY PARTY!! Time for a new political party that actually cares about the people."
..... Time will ell if the spat will have political repercussions - or result in another apology by Musk, who in June [2025] expressed regret for a flurry of personal attacks against the president.

Back to the House

..... Now the House has the task of reconciling changes to its original version a 1,000-page bill that squeaked through in May [2025] by a 215-214 vote.
..... The Senate made plenty of changes, which means Trump's agenda could face further hurdles among hard-line Republicans. the narrowness of the House vote gives fiscal hawks a negotiating advantage should they choose to force Trump's hand.
..... Some conservative members immediately began signaling trepidation about the Senate alterations.
..... Whether the reconciliation can happen before July 4, [2025] which is Trump's impose deadline for Congress, remains up in the air.

..... Contributing: Lauren Villagran, Joey Garrison, Sarah D, Wire and Sudiksha Kochi, USA Today

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