Two Republicans joined Democrats in a failed bid to block a Trump-endorsed spending framework in the Senate.
Two Senate Republicans voted with Democrats in an unsuccessful bid to block a multitrillion-dollar tax and spending framework that was proposed by their own party, passing in the early hours of Saturday in a 51-48 vote.
The two GOP rebels were Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky. Newsweek contacted them for comment on Saturday outside of regular office hours via online inquiry form and email respectively.Why It Matters
There is tension within the congressional Republican Party over President Donald Trump’s plans to implement a major new series of tax cuts, with fiscal hawks arguing the White House should focus on reducing the U.S. national debt. Given the GOP only has a slim majority in both the Senate and House, they could be defeated even if only a small number of Republicans vote with Democrats in either chamber.
The latest vote took place against the backdrop of a stock market tumble on Friday, with the Dow Jones recording a 5.1 percent fall by early afternoon, following Trump’s announcement of a massive new tariff program on Wednesday and Beijing announcing it would retaliate with a 34 percent tariff on all U.S. goods two days later.What To Know
The Senate vote lays the groundwork for Republicans in Congress to introduce a new bill featuring major tax cuts, as Trump promised during the 2024 presidential election campaign. These include abolishing taxes on tips, overtime and social security benefits as well as extending corporation and individual tax cuts imposed by Trump in his first administration.
