The US Senate has passed President Donald Trump's big bill, which he calls the "Big, Beautiful Bill". The 940-page bill will now be sent to the House of Representatives for approval, Reuters reports.
The vote in the Senate was so close that Vice President J.D. Vance had to be summoned to cast the vote that secured a narrow majority for the bill. Three Republican senators voted against: Rand Paul, Thom Tillis and Susan Collins.
The vote was preceded by over a day of sometimes heated debate and a series of procedural votes. Trump's big bill aims to extend tax cuts worth several trillion dollars over the next ten years. In addition, the president will make tips and overtime pay tax-free, among other things.
He will also roll back several of the green schemes that his immediate predecessor in the presidency, Joe Biden, implemented.
In return, to finance the enormous tax cuts, about one trillion dollars - that is, one thousand billion dollars - must be cut from Medicaid and other health programs. Medicaid is the United States' health insurance for people with low incomes or disabilities.
The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that almost 12 million Americans will lose their health insurance if the legislative package is passed in its current form, writes the Washington Post. The scheme formerly known as "food stamps" will also be cut, according to the version that has now been passed in the Senate.
- It is the largest transfer of wealth from the poorest Americans to the richest Americans in recent history, says Natasha Sarin, head of the Yale Budget Lab think tank, to the Washington Post.
The rich man Elon Musk has also criticized the bill several times. This is partly because, in its current form, it will add $3.3 trillion - or just under 21,000 billion kroner - to the already large US national debt.
Before the legislative package can be sent to President Trump's desk for signature, it must be sent for another reading in the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives is expected to begin debate on Wednesday.
Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, expects the vote on the bill to take place no later than Thursday. He told Fox News on Wednesday night. Several members of the House of Representatives have protested the changes included in the Senate version.
The Republicans also have a majority in this chamber. 220 members are Republicans and 212 are Democrats. But here too, the vote is expected to be very close.
Trump has expressed his desire to have the bill signed on Friday, July 4, which is the US national holiday.
Although Trump still calls his legislative package "One Big Beautiful Bill" - or in Danish "Én Stor Smuk Lov" - the Democratic leader Chuck Schumer had the law's official title removed on Tuesday after a vote.
Schumer calls the legislative package a "big, ugly betrayal" and points to the millions who will lose their health insurance and jobs, while the debt will increase, and tax cuts will benefit the rich and the business community, writes The Guardian.
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