Senators Express Concern Over Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill”

Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” which the House passed by a single vote last week, has Senate Republicans divided.

The passing of the bill has set up a battle in the upper chamber between moderates and conservatives that is likely to drag on well into July.

GOP senators are vowing to rewrite the bill, but they’re still weeks away from putting together a package that can muster the 51 votes it needs to pass, according to GOP senators and aides.

Moderate Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina are at odds with more conservative colleagues—Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Rick Scott of Florida, and Mike Lee of Utah—over proposed reductions to Medicaid, the gradual elimination of renewable energy subsidies, and other deficit-cutting initiatives that hardline conservatives argue are too modest.

Sen. Rand Paul has also expressed concern over the bill, arguing it is fiscally irresponsible. He said that while he supports elements of the bill, such as extending Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, he is worried that some provisions would “explode the deficit.”