Vance’s Decisive Vote Breaks Stalemate: U.S. Senate Passes “Big and Beautiful” Bill  

On July 1 local time, the U.S. Senate passed a comprehensive tax cut and spending bill, sending it to the House.  

 

The Senate approved President Trump’s proposed bill with a 51-50 vote that morning, during which senators voted on dozens of proposed legislative amendments.  

Republican Vice President Vance, also serving as Senate President, cast the tie-breaking vote in a 50-50 split, passing the amendment 51-50.  

 

Dubbed the “Big and Beautiful” bill by Trump, it now returns to the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson aims to pass it before Trump’s July 4 deadline.  

 

What’s in the “Big and Beautiful” Bill?  

 

According to the Republicans who proposed it, the bill extends and upgrades Trump’s first-term tax policies while scaling back Biden’s “Green New Deal,” welfare, and spending initiatives.  

 

Tax Cuts  

 

The bill plans to cut taxes by $4 trillion and reduce spending by at least $1.5 trillion over the next decade.  

 

It introduces multiple tax relief measures, including exempting overtime pay and tips, significantly raising estate and gift tax exemptions, and adjusting these exemptions for inflation moving forward.  

 

Reductions in Healthcare, Welfare, and “Green Subsidies”  

 

On the “cost-cutting” front, the “Big and Beautiful” bill will slash nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid, tightening eligibility criteria for recipients.  

 

It also tightens qualifications for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), raising the age requirement for food aid from 54 to 64, a change expected to save $230 billion over the next decade.  

 

The bill further eliminates or reduces “green subsidies” from the Biden era, putting projects like clean energy infrastructure and EV purchases at risk of losing tax breaks.  

 

Raising Debt Ceiling, Boosting Military Spending  

 

Conversely, these reduced expenditures will fund increased military and border security spending. The Senate version proposes raising the federal debt ceiling by an additional $5 trillion.  

 

Besides, According to a Congressional Budget Office analysis released on June 29, this bill will increase national debt by $3.3 trillion over the next decade.