More trouble lies on the horizon for President Donald Trump's Big Beautiful Bill Act, which extends the 2017 tax cuts while cutting over $1 trillion from Medicaid, food stamps and energy investment. Specifically, reported Politico Tuesday, one of Trump's signature campaign promises could be on the chopping block in the Senate — and House Republicans aren't happy about it.
According to the report, the House bill currently under debate in the Senate "would restore tax incentives for research and development, business equipment and debt interest through 2029, which Trump has indicated he supports. But Senate Republicans are dead-set on making them permanent, a proposition that would likely add hundreds of billions in more red ink to the legislation."
In order to pay for that increased cost, Senate Republicans are considering dropping, or at least scaling back, provisions like ending taxes on tips and overtime and an extra tax deduction for seniors, which were all campaign promises Trump ran on in 2024. This is despite the fact the Senate already passed its own version of "no tax on tips," a bill that allows up to $25,000 in deductions for tips.
House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) has spoken out against this, saying, “I think that the United States Senate will not want to scale down the president’s priorities. No tax on tips, no tax on overtime are two of his top priorities.” But Senate Finance Chair Ron Johnson (R-WI) has responded that he doesn't believe those Trump-endorsed policies are "pro-growth," and that “they’re making a case to increase the labor supply. I would just extend the current tax law.”
All of this comes as the bill faces a number of other challenges in the Senate. For instance, even some Republicans have suggested the provision that would limit judges' ability to enforce civil contempt charges against Trump officials who defy court orders probably can't stay in the bill. And some House lawmakers, like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), are now demanding the Senate strip out provisions they just voted for, like the 10-year ban on states regulating AI.
Meanwhile, Senate Democrats have a potent tool to cut portions out of the Republican bill, by challenging them under the "Byrd Rule," which prevents anything not related to the budget from being included in a budget reconciliation package. And tech billionaire Elon Musk is openly lobbying against the bill's passage amid his falling out with the president.
