Difficult passage for budget in US Senate: 51-50

The US Senate passed President Donald Trump’s controversial “One Big Beautiful Bill”, with cuts for social programmes like Medicaid, which will leave 11.8 million people with medical cover by 2030, and tax breaks for the rich.

There was a long drawn-out 27-hour long to-and-fro with opposition coming from Republican senators. But Senate Majority leader John Thune had to run a tight ship as it were in support of a bill which went through the laborious process of umpteen amendments, which were rejected through a cumbersome legislative procedure. Three of the Republican senators refused to fall in line.

Senators Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Susan Collins of Maine held out. So the final voting score was 50-51, with Vice President J.D.Vance casting his tie-breaker vote. The Vice President is also the head of the Senate. The bill now goes back to the House of Representatives for the final vote.

Republican Senator from Alaska, Lisa Murkowski voted for the bill but she did not hold back from expressing her dissent to and, opposition to, the bill. She said, “Let’s not kid ourselves. This has been an awful process, a frantic rush to meet an artificial deadline, that has tested every limit of this institution.” She told American television news network NBC, “Do I like this bill? No. I know that in many parts of the country, there are Americans who are not going to be advantaged by this bill. I don’t like that.”

Majority leader Thune claimed after the passing of the bill, “It’s been a long road to get to today. Now we’re here, permanently extending tax relief for hard-working Americans.” Senate Minority leader and Democrat Chuck Schumer nailed his point. He said, “In one fell swoop, Republicans passed the biggest tax break for billionaires ever seen, paid for by ripping away healthcare from millions of people.”

There were many contentious provisions in the bill. One of them was the removal of subsidy to electric cars – a blow to his former confidante Elon Musk and his Tesla – and subsidy for solar and wind energy projects. This is going to hurt many entrepreneurs who had invested in the sunrise sector. Trump is firmly opposed to the climate change thesis, and he does not want to help in any way any measure to help the emergence of a green economy even as most other countries are adopting the mitigatory measures.

Despite Republican majorities in the two Houses of the Congress, it has not ben easy for President Trump to push through his legislative agenda. And as has been witnessed in the Senate, the opposition to his measures was not coming from the Democrats alone, but from Republicans as well.

It is indeed the case that the Republican majorities are narrow, and it is not easy to push through legislation without a second thought as it were. Trump does not have the political sagacity to negotiate with people who do not agree with his point-of-view, and make the necessary compromises to get the legislation through. Trump does not like any opposition.

Second, he does not believe in talking over things, and stepping back a step or two to get his policies accepted. It is this that poses difficulties for him. His supporters have a tough task. They have to mow down the opposition.

It is not always an easy thing to do. Senate Majority leader Thune had a tough time in getting the Budget passed in the Senate, and he is a relieved man more than a victorious leader. Trump did not seem to learn much from his experience in the first term as president.