Trump's "Big and Beautiful" bill is expected to increase the deficit by 3.3 trillion US dollars. Democrats say Republicans are covering up the real costs

(Washington, D.C.) According to the latest estimate from the Congressional Budget Office, the Senate version of President Trump's "Big and Beautiful" tax cuts and spending bill will lead to an increase of nearly 3.3 trillion US dollars in the US deficit over the next 10 years, with costs far exceeding those of the House version. This poses a greater challenge for Republicans to pass the bill before the July 4 deadline set by Trump.

Estimates released by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office on Sunday (June 29) showed that the Senate version of the "Big and Beautiful" bill would increase the deficit by nearly $3.3 trillion over 10 years, about $800 billion higher than the version passed by the House of Representatives in May.

By 2034, the Senate version of the bill is expected to increase the number of uninsured Americans by 11.8 million, while the House version will increase the number of uninsured by 10.9 million.

The "Big and Beautiful" bill extends the tax cuts introduced by Trump during his first term, reduces other taxes, cuts social safety net spending such as Medicaid, and increases spending on military and border security. It is a common practice for the Congressional Budget Office to estimate the cost of bills based on current laws.

To push for the passage of the bill, the Republicans, taking the current policy as the baseline, claimed that the bill could save 507.6 billion US dollars within 10 years. The Republicans' estimates assume that Trump's tax cuts, which are due to expire in December, have been extended, making these measures "zero-cost" in the budget.

The Democratic leader of the Senate criticized on Sunday before the debate on the bill began that the Republicans were using false math and accounting gimmicks to cover up the true cost of the bill. He said, "Republicans are about to pass the most expensive bill in American history, depriving millions of people of Medicaid, supplemental nutrition assistance programs and high-paying jobs while providing tax breaks for billionaires."

The "Big and Beautiful" bill could only pass the Senate's procedural vote by a narrow margin of two votes on Saturday (28th) and entered the debate stage as two Republican lawmakers defected. To delay the vote, the Democratic Party demanded that the full 940-page bill be read out first, which took nearly 16 hours. The debate was not held until the next Sunday afternoon.

The Democratic Party hopes that the high costs estimated by the Congressional Budget Office will prompt conservative Republicans to vote against the passage of the bill. Bloomberg pointed out that about eight Republican senators oppose parts of the bill, and Senate Republican leader Thun is trying to placate them and balance the demands of different factions within the party.

The Republicans hold 53 of the 100 seats in the Senate, and Vice President Vance can cast the winning vote in the event of a tie, which means the Republicans can lose at most three votes within the Party.

Trump has been closely monitoring the progress of the bill and has criticized Republicans who refuse to support it. Senator Thom Tillis announced on Sunday that he would give up running for re-election in next year's midterm elections.

Tilis was dissatisfied with the bill's cuts in Medicaid spending and was one of the two Republicans who voted against it in the Senate's procedural vote on Saturday. In a statement released on Sunday, he criticized: "In the past few years, leaders in Washington who are willing to cooperate across parties, compromise and show independent thinking are becoming an endangered species, and this situation is becoming increasingly obvious."

Trump previously accused Tilis of only talking and complaining, and threatened to support other candidates to challenge Tilis in the midterm elections. After Tilis announced that she would not seek re-election, Trump called it "good news".

The Senate is scheduled to hold a marathon vote on a series of amendments to the bill at 9 a.m. Eastern Time on Monday (30) (9 p.m. Singapore time on Monday). The final vote is expected to take place as early as Monday night or Tuesday morning. If the bill is passed by the Senate, it still needs to be returned to the House of Representatives for a vote.