Donald Trump Scores Major Senate Win

The Senate has approved Donald Trump's tax and spending cut framework in a 51-48 vote, in a major win for the president.

Newsweek contacted the Senate Republican Conference and Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer for comment on Saturday, via telephone and email respectively, outside of regular office hours.

Why It Matters

The overnight vote lays the ground for congressional Republicans to submit a major spending bill to implement Trump's pledged sweeping tax cuts. These include removing taxes on overtime, tips and social security benefits and extending a major round of tax cuts that Trump passed in 2017 during his first term.

The framework vote took place against the backdrop of a tanking stock market with the Dow Jones falling by 5.1 percent by early afternoon Friday, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq by around 5.5 percent, as investors continued reacting to the major tariff program Trump unveiled on Wednesday, which he dubbed "Liberation Day." Friday also saw Beijing hit the U.S. with a 34 percent trade tariff on all American goods in response to a similar levy targeted at China.

What To Know

The Senate Republican agenda included both billions of dollars' worth of proposed tax cuts as well as additional funding for the U.S. military and border security. This would also raise the U.S. debt ceiling by up to $5 trillion, which is likely to trouble GOP fiscal hawks in the House. The 51-48 vote, which ran into the early hours of Saturday morning, took place largely along party lines.

However, two Republicans—Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky—voted against.

During a six-hour voting session, dubbed a "vote-a-rama" by some observers, Democrats sought to add a series of amendments to the GOP framework, including proposals to reverse Trump's tariffs, protect Medicaid and block tax cuts for the super-wealthy. One proposal sought to prohibit the use of commercial messaging applications for war plans, following the scandal around administration officials using Signal ahead of Yemen strikes, but all failed.

Senate Republicans' agenda could face difficulties in the House, where the GOP only has a slim majority and a number of Republican hardliners are pushing for deficit reductions. According to CNN, around half a dozen House Republicans and their senior aides expressed skepticism that the framework would make it through the lower chamber in its current form and are instead pushing for sweeping spending cuts.

What People Are Saying

Republican Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso backed the framework commenting: "It fulfills our promises to secure the border, to rebuild our economy and to restore peace through strength."

Before the final vote, Trump posted in support of the Senate Republican framework, which he called the "BIG, BEAUTIFUL DEAL," in a post on his Truth Social website.

He said: "Big business is not worried about the Tariffs, because they know they are here to stay, but they are focused on the BIG, BEAUTIFUL DEAL, which will SUPERCHARGE our Economy. Very important. Going on right now!!!"

What Happens Next

The framework's Senate approval lays the groundwork for a major tax and spending bill to implement Trump's policies, though this could run into trouble due to the concern of some House Republicans over U.S. debt levels. Both chambers have to agree to the same budget framework.

Correction 04/05/25, 5:08 a.m. ET: This article was updated to clarify that the Senate vote was 51-48, not 51-49.