US senators on Saturday were scrambling to open debate on Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful” budget bill, which is key to the president’s second-term agenda.

The bill cannot advance to the House until a debate is held and a final vote on the legislation passes the Senate. But Republicans have been divided by the controversial bill, with some rejecting the proposal to cut welfare programmes in order to cover tax breaks, and others demanding deeper cuts.

After the procedural vote to move to a floor debate on the measure opened on Saturday evening, several Republican had voted against it, putting pressure on the remaining holdouts to toe the party line.

Meanwhile, the tech billionaire Elon Musk has again voiced criticism of bill, describing it as “utterly insane and destructive”.

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Catching up? Here’s what happened on 27 June 2025.