Senate mulls spending cuts for Big Beautiful Bill

Revision plans for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act are picking up momentum in the U.S. Senate, where the bill remains weeks after passing the House. While senators are advocating for a variety of changes, spending cuts are the focus of proposed revisions. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., a deficit hawk and one of the bill’s vocal opponents, on Friday told CNBC that many lawmakers who haven’t spoken up are on his side. Johnson is pushing for a two-part process: one bill covering border and defense spending for the next year while extending tax cuts, followed by another bill for extensive spending reductions outlined in detail.

Other lawmakers who mostly support the bill aren’t ready to pass it. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., on Friday reposted a video from Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa. McCormick in the video said lawmakers should pass the bill to codify Trump’s policies, but argued the legislation still needed spending cuts.

Former Trump adviser Elon Musk last week raised concerns over the bill’s high cost during a public feud with the president. Musk said the current bill would greatly increase the national deficit through overspending. He called for a new budget bill.

If the Senate passes a revised version of the bill by Republicans’ proposed July 4 deadline, the revised version will still need approval from the House. The current version passed the House by one vote.

How much would the bill’s current version increase the national deficit? The Congressional Budget Office last week released an updated report saying the bill would add nearly $3 trillion to the deficit by 2034. However, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget over the weekend released a new analysis estimating that the bill would reduce the deficit by more than $1.4 trillion over the same timeframe. The White House said that the Congressional Budget Office’s estimates were calculated from an unrealistic baseline—the wrongful assumption that lawmakers would let Trump’s 2017 tax cuts expire. The White House also said other Trump administration policies, such as reduced discretionary spending, were projected to reduce the deficit by an additional $6.7 trillion in the next 10 years.

Dig deeper: Read Leo Briceno’s report on the spending reduction package the White House recently sent to Congress.