Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' faces resistance from Republican senators over debt fears
Sen. Rand Paul and other Republicans express doubts about $5 trillion debt limit increase in Trump-backed legislation
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}President Donald Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill" is facing criticism, even from within his own party, as some lawmakers remain skeptical about the massive spending package and its potential impact on the nation's debt, despite it being under consideration by a Republican-controlled Congress.
The spending bill, which the House passed late last month and is now in the Senate’s hands, aims to address a number of issues, including tax policy, border security and immigration, defense, energy production, the debt limit, and adjustments to SNAP and Medicaid.
However, without a serious overhaul, lawmakers like Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is still a "no" on the legislation because it will increase the nation's debt limit. He is among a group of at least four Republican senators who have expressed concerns over Trump's bill, because of the package's projected increase in the national debt.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}RAND PAUL SAYS HE WOULD SUPPORT 'BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL' IF DEBT CEILING HIKE REMOVED
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., on Monday said he is still opposed to President Donald Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill," despite discussions with him. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images; Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
This week, Paul relayed his concerns to media members that the bill will raise the debt ceiling by $5 trillion.
"We have never raised the debt ceiling without actually meeting that target," he said. "So you can say it doesn't directly add to the debt, but if you increase the ceiling $5 trillion, you'll meet that. And what it does is it puts it off the back-burner. And then we won't discuss it for a year or two."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}As of Tuesday, the national debt, which measures what the U.S. owes its creditors, was $36.2 trillion, according to the Treasury Department. Trump pushed back on Paul's remarks about his bill.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks to the media after the House narrowly passed a bill forwarding President Donald Trump's agenda at the U.S. Capitol, May 22, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
"Rand Paul has very little understanding of the BBB, especially the tremendous GROWTH that is coming. He loves voting ‘NO’ on everything, he thinks it’s good politics, but it’s not. The BBB is a big WINNER!!!" Trump wrote on TRUTH Social.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Meanwhile, the national deficit, which occurs when the federal government’s spending exceeds its revenues, was $1 trillion as of Tuesday, according to Treasury Department data.
On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the "blatantly wrong claim that the ‘One, Big, Beautiful Bill’ increases the deficit is based on the Congressional Budget Office and other scorekeepers who use shoddy assumptions and have historically been terrible at forecasting across Democrat and Republican administrations alike."
SEN. RON JOHNSON PROPOSES 'LINE-BY-LINE' CUTS TO PASS TRUMP'S 'BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The outlook for the federal debt level is bleak, as FOX Business previously reported, with economists increasingly sounding the alarm over the torrid pace of spending by Congress and the White House.
Under the terms of the bill, the bill would add over $2 trillion to budget deficits over a decade, according to a recent analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
All together, the tax cuts and reforms in the package add nearly $3.8 trillion to the deficit over a decade – though spending reductions in other parts of the bill offset some of that to arrive at the $2.3 trillion figure.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Elon Musk, who ended his tenure last week as Trump’s lead in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), doubled down on his position Tuesday that the House’s reconciliation package was an "abomination."
WHITE HOUSE STANDS BY TAX BILL AFTER MUSK CALLS IT A ‘DISGUSTING ABOMINATION’
The White House launched a Big Beautiful Bill calculator for taxpayers. (White House )
"I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore," Musk posted on X Tuesday. "This massive, outrageous, pork-filled congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Trump administration and some congressional Republicans have pushed back on the estimates of the bill, also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and its impact on the deficit, arguing that economic growth from the tax cuts will stimulate economic activity and lead to more tax revenue than what is projected.
SPEAKER JOHNSON CLASHES WITH RAND PAUL OVER 'WIMPY' SPENDING CUTS IN TRUMP'S BILL
"Hope it does a lot to get some further cuts," Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., told Fox News about the bill. "We don't want to bankrupt the country. And what Elon also should recognize is we don't need more solar and EV credits. That actually makes it worse. He probably knows that, though."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A man walks past the National Debt Clock on 43rd Street in New York City. The billboard constantly updates to display the current U.S. gross national debt and each American family's share of the debt. (Getty Images)
To push back on the criticism, the White House launched a website where Americans can tabulate how much the bill will personally save them.
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The House passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on May 22 with a narrow 215-214-1 vote that went largely along party lines.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}If that version of the bill is revised by the Senate, the legislation will have to go back to the House for another vote before it can go to Trump's desk and become law.