>> Continued From the Previous Page <<
The Senate’s vote followed a chaotic, hours-long amendment frenzy known as a “vote-a-rama,” where lawmakers from both parties attempted to reshape the bill in real-time. Democrats, as expected, tried to gut the legislation with a flurry of poison-pill amendments.
With only a slim majority, GOP leaders had almost no room for error. Losing just three votes could have torpedoed the bill. Senators Tillis and Paul made their opposition clear ahead of the vote, throwing up serious obstacles for Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD).
“We’re figuring out how to get to the end game,” Thune told reporters, indicating the voting marathon could drag deep into the night.
What’s at stake? Everything from tax policy to national security. Trump’s bill includes $4.5 trillion in permanent tax relief, as analyzed by the Congressional Budget Office — though CBO’s numbers often miss the mark. It also locks in the 2017 tax cuts that powered economic growth in Trump’s first term.
Democrats are furious, claiming the package wipes out billions in so-called “green energy” handouts for wind and solar firms. The cuts threaten to undo major climate subsidies — and one billionaire is fuming.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX — and notably, the former head of Trump’s now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency — lashed out online, suggesting the bill’s passage could push him to create a new political movement.
“It is obvious with the insane spending of this bill, which increases the debt ceiling by a record FIVE TRILLION DOLLARS that we live in a one-party country – the PORKY PIG PARTY!! Time for a new political party that actually cares about the people,” Musk wrote on X.
Trump didn’t hesitate to hit back, calling out Musk in a fiery Truth Social post:
“Elon Musk knew, long before he so strongly Endorsed me for President, that I was strongly against the EV Mandate. It is ridiculous, and was always a major part of my campaign. Electric cars are fine, but not everyone should be forced to own one.”
Trump then turned up the heat:
“Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far, and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa. No more Rocket launches, Satellites, or Electric Car Production, and our Country would save a FORTUNE. Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!”
Beyond taxes and green energy, the bill aims to clean up bloated federal programs. It slashes $1.2 trillion from Medicaid and food stamp rolls by tightening eligibility rules and restructuring reimbursements to states — moves that Democrats are already calling “cruel” but which conservatives see as long-overdue accountability.
On national security, the bill allocates $350 billion toward border enforcement, immigration controls, and deportations — a central pillar of Trump’s 2024 campaign platform.
Musk, meanwhile, continued fanning the flames of political unrest. On Monday, he threatened to launch a brand-new “America Party” if Trump’s bill cleared the Senate.
“If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day,” he warned his 220 million followers. “Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE.”
With Trump’s political base energized and establishment Republicans on notice, the passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” sets the stage for a political war heading into the next election cycle — with Trump at the helm, and perhaps Elon Musk waiting in the wings.
