Trump holds Big Beautiful Bill event at White House ahead of Independence Day deadline
Despite a major setback in the Senate on Thursday, Trump held an event to rally Republicans behind his tax legislation ahead of its July 4th deadline.
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As Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill races towards its prospective July 4 deadline, more pressure is mounting on Republicans to swiftly pass the Act through the Senate.
The Bill, which narrowly passed in the House of Representatives last month, suffered a big setback on Thursday when Senate lawmakers denied amendments on Medicaid funding.
Despite the setback, Trump is standing steadfast behind the Independence Day deadline - and has held an event just hours after the Senate defeat to rally Republicans behind his tax legislation.
Flanked by special guests on stage, including delivery drivers, barbers, law enforcement officers and border agents, Trump promoted the Bill in the East Room of the White House.
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“We're cutting $1.7 trillion in this bill, and you're not going to feel any of it,” he said during the event.
“Your Medicaid is left alone. It's left the same. Your Medicare and your Social Security are strengthened,”
Trump then went on to argue the Democrats will be “cutting your Medicare, Medicaid in half.”
“So we're going to do a real job, so important. So if you can call your senators, call your congressmen, we have to get the vote.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has said the event was intended to "show the American people how this bill works for them, and how there are provisions in this bill that will change their lives."
Thursday’s setbacks spell a lot more work for Senate Republicans, however, as major retooling of the Bill’s Medicaid provisions will now be required.
Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough raised eyebrows among Republicans on Thursday, when she denied an amendment to cap states’ ability to source more federal Medicaid funding through healthcare provider taxes.
The amendment would have funded a significant heap of the Bill’s proposed tax cuts.
It’s unclear whether the required amendments will be completed in time for Trump’s Independence Day deadline.
Medicaid comprises a landmark section of the Act, which seeks to significantly restructure federal spending to fund major tax cuts.
This setback is just the latest in a series of Republican conflicts over the Bill, with some raising concerns that the Act could fuel a surge in national debt.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the legislation will add about $3.8 trillion to the federal government's $36.2 trillion in debt over the next decade.
The Bill was also a source of major contention between Trump and the now-departed head of DOGE Elon Musk, who criticised the Bill as “undermining” the cuts being enacted by his department.