As Price Goes Up, Senate Begins Debating Trump Bill

The Senate began debate Sunday afternoon on President Trump centerpiece domestic legislation of tax breaks and spending cuts, with Republican leaders still making changes to win votes. Debate could not begin until clerks finished reading the 940-page bill aloud, a nearly 16-hour endeavor that Democrats forced Saturday night to slow its progress. The reading probably means decisive votes will be delayed until Monday, the New York Times reports. "If Senate Republicans won't tell the American people what's in this bill, then Democrats are going to force this chamber to read it from start to finish," said Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, per the AP.

The debate could last as long as 20 hours, per USA Today, with votes on dozens of amendments to follow that could take hours more. Majority Leader John Thune said he wants to pass the bill Monday to get it back to the House for its final approval before the July 4 deadline Trump set. But polls show the measure is becoming more unpopular with voters over time, per the Washington Post. And its estimated cost rose on Sunday when the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the bill would balloon the national debt by $3.3 trillion over 10 years. That's on top of significant increases in borrowing costs; even with its spending cuts, the measure is largely deficit-financed.

On Sunday, Republicans invoked an accounting gimmick to get around longstanding budget rules, unilaterally decreeing that extending Trump's previous tax cuts won't add to the federal deficit, per the Times. Using Trump's nickname for the legislation, GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham said, "It's a big, beautiful bill if you believe in cutting people's taxes, securing the border, having a strong military and controlling government spending. Democrats denounced the loss of essential safety net programs to millions of Americans under the bill, in order to give tax benefits mostly to the nation's wealthiest people. Calling the bill reckless and unconscionable, Democratic Sen. Gary Peters said, "This is a recipe for disaster."