US President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill” has moved one step closer to being passed. The $4.5 trillion tax cut bill cleared a key procedural vote at the Senate late on Saturday. The development comes just days ahead of the July 4 deadline for the bill’s passage. Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” proposes $4.5 trillion in tax cuts.(AFP)

After hours of delay, the procedural vote finally took place, and cleared the ambitious bill. While many Republicans were in favour of the bill, three Republican senators – Thom Tillis, Ron Johnson and Rand Paul – joined Democrats in opposing it. However, by the end of the crucial vote, Johnson flipped his no vote to yes.

The results reportedly came following negotiation efforts by Vice President JD Vance and other Republicans.

Also Read: ‘Great victory’: Trump hails US Senate vote for ‘Big Beautiful Bill’

While this is a big breakthrough for the spending cuts bill, a final vote remains. The bill would require 50 votes for its final passage in the Senate, for which the legislation may need tweaks.

Democrats are preparing to force a full reading of the proposed legislation on the Senate floor, a procedural move that could delay a final vote until Monday.

“Tonight we saw a GREAT VICTORY in the Senate with the “GREAT, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL,” but, it wouldn’t have happened without the Fantastic Work of Senator Rick Scott, Senator Mike Lee, Senator Ron Johnson, and Senator Cynthia Lummis,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding that those who voted in the bill’s favour are the ones who love the US.

What the bill proposes

Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’ proposes $4.5 trillion worth of tax cuts and reduced spending on Medicaid, food stamps and other programs. The tax deduction increase would apply to both local and state levels.

The bill also proposes changes to who would bear the cost of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP. Currently, the federal government bears its funding, but the spending cuts bill proposes that some states pay a share of this cost.

The bill also proposes limits on Medicaid, a government program that helps low-income and disabled people get health care. One part of the bill would cut funding to states that use their Medicaid systems to help undocumented immigrants get health care, and the other would ban Medicaid from covering gender transition-related care.

Why is July 4 the deadline?

Fourth of July marks the American Independence Day, and hence, Trump wants the spending cuts legislation at his desk by that time. However, he recently said that the self-imposed ultimatum was not an absolute deadline.

“It’s important, it’s not the end-all,” Trump told reporters on Friday about the Independence Day deadline. “It can go longer, but we’d like to get it done by that time if possible,” he said, according to a Bloomberg report.

The Musk-Trump fallout

Billionaire Elon Musk and President Trump, who camaraderie was a sight to behold throughout Trump’s Presidential campaign and even after that, had a big falling out over the spending cuts bill.

The two had a public falling out and exchanged jabs on social media, and Musk had even alleged in a post that the US President was named in the Jeffery Epstein files, which is why they were not made public. However, Musk later took down the post.

Even as the draft bill was being tabled in the Senate, Musk reiterated his criticism of the legislation on Saturday. In a post on X, Musk wrote, “The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country!”