Today's News: Senate Narrowly Passes its Budget Reconciliation Bill

The Republican-controlled Senate narrowly passed President Donald Trump’s sweeping “big, beautiful bill” by a 51-50 vote, with Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote.

Terrence Dorsey

Jul 01, 2025

Photo: Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times

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Date: July 1, 2025
Topic: Senate Passage of President Trump’s Comprehensive Domestic Policy Bill
Summary: The Republican-controlled Senate narrowly passed President Donald Trump’s sweeping “big, beautiful bill” by a 51-50 vote, with Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote. The legislation, which combines significant tax cuts with deep reductions in federal social safety net programs, now moves to the House of Representatives for a final vote, with Republican leaders aiming for passage by July 4. Despite securing the necessary votes after a marathon session and intense negotiations, the bill faces strong opposition from Democrats and concerns from some Republicans over its impact on the national debt and social programs like Medicaid.

Sources

Key Points

All articles confirm the Senate narrowly passed President Trump’s domestic policy bill by a 51-50 vote, with Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote.
Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, and Rand Paul of Kentucky consistently voted against the bill, joining all Democrats.
The legislation extends Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and includes new funding for national security and immigration enforcement, partially offset by significant cuts to federal safety net programs, particularly Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that the bill will lead to millions of Americans (around 11.8 to 12 million) losing health coverage by 2034 and will add trillions of dollars to the national debt over the next decade.
The bill’s passage followed a marathon voting session, often referred to as a “vote-a-rama,” lasting over 24 hours, during which numerous amendments were considered and negotiations with holdout senators took place.
House Republican leaders have reiterated their commitment to pass the bill by President Trump’s self-imposed July 4 deadline.

Unique Highlights

CNN provides specific details on how President Trump downplayed CBO figures on health coverage losses, suggesting they account for “waste, fraud and abuse.” It also highlights Senator Collins' primary reason for voting against the bill being Medicaid cuts, despite the rural hospital fund being doubled from $25 billion to $50 billion. CNN also uniquely details the changes to energy tax credits, relaxing some restrictions on wind and solar projects.
NBC News elaborates on Senator Lisa Murkowski’s concerns about the bill’s impact on vulnerable populations (Medicaid and SNAP) and her hope for House changes, despite ultimately voting for the bill. It uniquely explains the “current policy baseline” tactic used by Republicans to obscure the cost of extending tax cuts, which Senator Ron Wyden called the “nuclear option,” and notes that over 45 amendments were voted on, a record. NBC News also reports on the lopsided 99-1 vote to kill a provision for a 10-year moratorium on state and local artificial intelligence regulations.
Fox News mentions that Republican leadership tried to win over Collins and Murkowski with “sweeteners” in the final, amended version, specifically pointing to the doubling of the rural hospital fund to $50 billion (for Collins) and a rollback of the start date for SNAP work requirements for states with higher payment error rates, like Alaska (benefiting Murkowski). It also highlights Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s argument against Democratic “hypocrisy” on spending, except for national security.
The Washington Post uniquely details some of the bill’s “populist flourishes,” such as increasing the child tax credit, adding a bonus to the standard deduction for seniors, creating savings accounts for newborns with $1,000 of taxpayer money, and allowing deductions for American-made car loan interest. It also cites the Yale Budget Lab, stating that combined with tariffs, the bottom 80 percent of households would see their take-home incomes fall, and mentions the specific “Golden Dome” continental missile defense system.
The Wall Street Journal focuses extensively on President Trump’s promise of “no tax on Social Security,” detailing the bill’s temporary bonus senior tax deduction ($6,000 per person in the Senate version vs. $4,000 in the House version) as a partial fulfillment, rather than a full elimination. It provides specific income thresholds for this deduction and calculates potential tax savings for married couples.
The New York Times includes a comprehensive fact-check section, explicitly debunking several of President Trump’s claims about the bill, such as a purported 68 percent tax increase if the bill didn’t pass, the complete elimination of taxes on Social Security/tips/overtime, and claims of it being the “largest tax cut for middle-class Americans in history.” It also provides a detailed analysis of the bill’s fiscal impact, arguing it puts the nation on a “new, more perilous fiscal path” by disregarding longstanding budgeting rules with an “accounting gimmick” and notes the reignition of the Trump-Musk feud over the bill’s clean energy cuts.

Contrasting Details

Rural Hospital Fund Amount: While CNN and Fox News both state that the rural hospital fund was doubled to $50 billion in the final version to secure votes, The New York Times initially reports a $25 billion fund for rural hospitals, which appears to be the original amount before the confirmed doubling by other sources.
CBO Debt Projections: Most articles, including NBC News, The Washington Post, and The New York Times, cite the CBO’s projection of approximately $3.3 trillion added to the national debt over a decade. However, Fox News uniquely differentiates by providing two CBO scores: “just over $507 billion” under current policy and “roughly $3.3 trillion” under current law. The New York Times further expands on the cost, citing the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget’s higher estimates of $3.9 trillion (with interest) and $5.3 trillion (with 10-year extensions of temporary cuts).
Trump’s Claims vs. Reality: CNN reports President Trump downplaying CBO figures on health coverage losses without a direct fact-check. The Wall Street Journal addresses Trump’s “no tax on Social Security” promise by explaining the bill offers a limited, temporary deduction, not a full elimination. The New York Times provides the most direct and extensive contrasting details, featuring a dedicated “fact-check” section that explicitly labels several of Trump’s statements about the bill’s impact as false or exaggerated, providing specific counter-statistics and expert analyses.

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