Trump pressures Congress on his 'big beautiful bill' as debate clouds path forward

By David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump on Tuesday stepped up pressure on Republicans in the U.S. Senate to advance his sweeping tax-cut and spending bill this week, as party hardliners and moderates squabbled over proposed spending cuts.

Republican leaders are pushing to get the One Big Beautiful Bill Act -- which would add trillions to the nation's $36.2 trillion in debt -- through Congress and to Trump's desk before the July 4 Independence Day holiday.

Senate Republicans are at odds over the bill's details, with some seeking to preserve social programs including Medicaid healthcare for lower-income Americans, while hardliners want deep spending cuts to limit growth of the federal deficit. 

Some lawmakers have said it could take until August to pass the bill. 

"To my friends in the Senate, lock yourself in a room if you must, don't go home, and GET THE DEAL DONE THIS WEEK. Work with the House so they can pick it up, and pass it, IMMEDIATELY. NO ONE GOES ON VACATION UNTIL IT'S DONE," Trump said in a post on social media.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who attended a Senate Republican lunch on Tuesday, said afterward that Congress is on track to meet the July 4 deadline.

"I am confident that what the Senate passes over to the House will move through the House very quickly," Bessent said.

The emerging Senate legislation would extend expiring provisions of Trump's 2017 tax cuts, fund his crackdown on immigration and boost military spending.

The Senate bill would also raise the federal debt ceiling by another $5 trillion, adding pressure for action as the government heads toward an "X date" for a potentially catastrophic default this summer.

"We're getting close to the warning track," Bessent told reporters.

'DEBT BUSTER'

The version passed last month by the House of Representatives could increase the federal deficit by at least $2.8 trillion, despite a boost in economic activity, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said last week. Independent analysts predict the Senate version would cost more.

"Republicans know their plan is a debt buster but they don't seem to care," Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer told reporters.

"They're actually putting this country in the debt with the tax cuts," the New York Democrat added. "They know that."   

Senate Majority Leader John Thune has said his chamber is on track to pass the bill this week. House Speaker Mike Johnson said his chamber would then take the legislation up quickly.

"Hopefully, when push comes to shove and everybody has to say 'yes' or 'no,' we'll get the number of votes that we need," said Thune, citing the legislation's sweeping number of Republican priorities.

The debate has been compounded over the past week by a string of opinions from the nonpartisan Senate parliamentarian, who is ruling on what elements of the bill comply with the procedure Republicans are using to bypass the Senate's 60-vote filibuster. The bill cannot pass without bypassing the filibuster because solid opposition by Senate Democrats will not allow it to garner 60 votes.

The parliamentarian has blocked provisions that would cut spending for financial watchdogs, allow offshore gas and oil projects to skirt environmental reviews and glean savings from food assistance programs for the poor and the elimination of green tax credits.

Those decisions have caused alarm among House Republican hardliners, who could block the legislation if it returns to their chamber with those provisions absent.  

"It looks to me like the parliamentarian is killing the bill. She's taking out all of the conservative spending cuts that we very carefully, with a razor's edge, passed in the House," said Representative Keith Self, a prominent hardline Republican. 

Thune has repeatedly ruled out the possibility of overruling the parliamentarian, whose role is widely viewed by lawmakers as vital to the integrity of the Senate.

But Republicans have been able to win the parliamentarian's approval by revising the language of some previously blocked provisions.

(Reporting by David Morgan and Doina Chiacu; Additional reporting by Bo Erickson and Maiya Kaiden; Editing by Scott Malone, David Gregorio and Deepa Babington)