Senate Republicans late Saturday night took an important step toward President Donald Trump’s approval of his “big and beautiful bill” late Saturday night.
After lengthy negotiations, the bill passed on a key procedural vote of 51-49.
In May, the document was approved in the House of Representatives.
Among other things, the bill, provides for the elimination of taxes on tips and overtime pay, increases military spending and allocates billions of dollars for border security. But it also cuts social safety net programmes, particularly Medicaid.
Saturday’s vote will allow the Senate to begin debate on Trump’s bill, with a final vote in that chamber as early as Monday, CNN writes.
If the Senate is able to pass it, the bill will return to the House of Representatives for one last round of votes before it goes to the White House.
Not all Republican lawmakers support proposals to cut spending on Medicaid, food stamps and other programmes.
By late afternoon, Trump began sharply criticising those who resisted, threatening to launch a campaign against one Republican, Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who announced that he could not support the bill because of significant Medicaid cuts that he believes would leave many without health care in his state. Tillis and Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky voted against it. The president held telephone conversations from the Oval Office late Saturday night, AP news agency wrote, citing a person familiar with the discussions who was not authorised to speak publicly and wished to remain anonymous.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the law would add about $3.8 trillion to the federal government’s debt over the next decade, the Reuters piece noted.
US President Trump has made it clear that he hopes to get the document signed before 4 July, the country’s Independence Day.