Kill the Bill! How the budget plan sparked a rift between Trump, Musk, and key Republicans

However, most of Trump’s promises require input from Congress, which is responsible for approving a budget and setting tax policy. The Republican Party secured a majority in both chambers last November, if only just barely: 220 seats versus the Democrats’ 215 in the House of Representatives, and 53 seats to 47 in the Senate.

And yet even the coveted “trifecta” — control of the executive branch and both legislative chambers — has not offered the Republicans full control over the legislative process. The reason is the so-called filibuster — a procedural tactic that allows the opposition in the Senate to indefinitely delay the discussion of a bill. Ending the debate early requires 60 or more votes, which the Republicans currently do not have.

Still, Senate rules do sometimes allow for bypassing the filibuster in order to approve laws by a simple majority. This loophole is called “Reconciliation,” but the Congressional Budget Act limits its use to bills involving taxes, budgetary spending, and the national debt. For each of these areas, only one bill can be passed under the expedited process per fiscal year, although they are often combined into a single document.

Due to these limitations, the Republicans decided to squeeze most of Trump’s legislative agenda into a single bill, which took House Speaker Mike Johnson almost the entire spring to elaborate. Trump himself, in his characteristic style, dubbed it “one big, beautiful bill” — and that name eventually became official.

Less tax, more military spending, and a greater national debt

The bill turned out to be truly big, with the final version exceeding 1,000 pages — focused primarily on tax cuts. The extension of the tax reform enacted by the Republicans during Trump’s first term alone would cost the federal budget over $3.8 trillion in revenue over 10 years (the standard budget planning window). Further tax cuts included in the bill total about $1.5 trillion.

According to economists’ estimates, the tax cuts will increase Americans’ incomes by an average of 4.4% in 2026. The top 5% of the wealthiest taxpayers would benefit the most — largely because most of the tax benefits intended to help the poor and the middle class will only remain in effect until 2029, while the reductions in corporate and income taxes are set to be permanent.

If the bill is passed, in 2027 the incomes of the poorest 20% of Americans will increase by only 0.6% (an average of $90), while the incomes of those earning over $1 million will rise by 4.3% (nearly $90,000). By 2029, the income of the first group will drop by 0.5%, while that of the second group will increase by 3.3%. The Joint Committee on Taxation calculated that from 2027 to 2033, Americans earning less than $30,000 per year will pay $18 billion more in taxes, while those earning over $1 million per year will pay $242 billion less.