U.S. Senate drives to pass version of Trump-backed fiscal bill as deadline looms

Investing.com - Republicans in the U.S. Senate were plodding through votes on a series of proposed amendments to their version of President Donald Trump’s signature tax-cuts and spending package on Tuesday, with a deadline to finalize the bill just days away.

The so-called "vote-a-rama" stretched into the predawn hours in Washington and it remained unclear when the process would finish. Media reports suggested that the Senate Republicans remain confident that a final vote on the legislation could come prior to sunrise in Washington.

Typically, passage of legislation in the Senate requires the approval of 60 of the 100-member upper chamber of the U.S. Congress. But the "reconciliation" procedure being pursued by Senate Republicans would bypass this rule, allowing their update to the bill to pass with only a simple majority.

However, given the GOP’s narrow control over the Senate and staunch Democratic opposition, Republican lawmakers can ill-afford any defections. Just four would likely lead to failure of the measure.

Total (EPA:TTEF) party-wide support has proved difficult for Republicans to secure, as some lawmakers balk at the massive price tag of the legislation. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the bill, which would extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and introduce new tax reductions while increasing spending on defense and border security, would add $3.3 trillion to the already-sizeable $36.2 trillion federal debt pile.

One of the bill’s most outspoken critics has been billionaire Elon Musk, the largest Republican donor and former Trump confidant. Musk, who has called the legislation "insane," suggested that he would move to form a new political party if it is passed.

In a response that underlined a recent schism between the two men, Trump appeared to threaten that he could rescind subsidies given to Musk’s various business ventures, which include SpaceX and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA).

The Senate’s update to Trump’s "One Big Beautiful Bill" also needs to be approved by the House of Representatives before it can be brought to the president’s desk and signed into law.

Pressure to proceed quickly through these steps is mounting, with Republicans facing a self-imposed Fourth of July deadline to pass the bill.