U.S. Senate passes Trump’s landmark tax and spending bill after marathon debate

The US Senate has narrowly passed a sweeping tax and spending package, delivering a hard-fought victory for President Donald Trump’s administration and moving his signature legislative priority one step closer to becoming law.

After a grueling 26 hours of debate, the measure cleared the Senate on Tuesday with Vice president JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote to end a 50-50 deadlock. The dramatic late-night vote followed weeks of bitter Republican infighting and intense lobbying efforts by the White House to secure the support of wavering GOP senators.

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Senate Republicans hailed the bill, which promises multi-trillion-dollar tax cuts alongside major boosts in defence spending — as a long-overdue overhaul to spur economic growth and strengthen national security. But the package would also slash parts of the federal safety net by the largest margin in decades, stoking outrage among Democrats and some moderate Republicans.

“This is a major policy win for the American people,” Trump declared on his social media platform, Truth Social, shortly after the vote. “We can have all of this right now, but only if the House GOP unites and does the right thing, which is sending this bill to my desk.”

House Republicans are expected to reconvene in Washington on Wednesday to consider the Senate’s version of the legislation, with GOP leaders racing to deliver it to Trump by July 4. The final hurdle may yet prove challenging: despite their narrow majority, House Republicans remain deeply divided, with dozens of members privately expressing misgivings about provisions rewritten by the Senate.

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Intense lobbying and a decisive tie-breaker
Securing the Senate vote required painstaking negotiations between Senate Majority Leader John Thune, vice president Vance, and key GOP holdouts, including Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski. Party leaders reportedly spent days offering policy concessions tailored specifically to Murkowski’s home state. She ultimately sided with her party, providing the critical 50th vote.

One Republican, Maine’s Susan Collins, joined Democrats in opposing the bill, citing its potential impact on social services in her state. Another, North Carolina senator Thom Tillis, made headlines when he abruptly announced his retirement rather than support the measure — a move Democrats seized on as evidence of discontent within GOP ranks.

“I’m of Scandinavian heritage — always a bit of a realist — so we’ll see what happens,” Thune told reporters on Tuesday morning, just hours before the final vote, hinting at the fragile nature of the agreement.

Democrats decry ‘betrayal’
Democrats were scathing in their response. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York accused Republicans of betraying working Americans to deliver a windfall for the wealthy and defence contractors.

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“Senate Republicans betrayed the American people and covered the Senate in utter shame,” Schumer said in a blistering press conference. “This bill is so irredeemable that one Republican literally chose to retire rather than vote yes and decimate his own state. But there were many senators who felt just as he did.”

Despite the rancour, the White House remains optimistic that the House will swiftly approve the bill in its current form, allowing Trump to sign it into law before the Independence Day holiday. On Truth Social, Trump urged House Republicans to hold the line: “Stay UNITED, have fun, and vote ‘YAY.’ GOD BLESS YOU ALL!”

As the House prepares for a showdown on Wednesday, the stakes could not be higher for Trump and congressional Republicans — who hope to brandish the legislation as proof they can govern, even as it tests their fragile coalition to the limit.