Two Senate Republicans voted with Democrats in an unsuccessful bid to block a multitrillion-dollar tax and spending framework that was proposed by their own party, passing in the early hours of Saturday in a 51-48 vote.
The two GOP rebels were Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky. Newsweek contacted them for comment on Saturday outside of regular office hours via online inquiry form and email respectively.
Why It Matters
There is tension within the congressional Republican Party over President Donald Trump‘s plans to implement a major new series of tax cuts, with fiscal hawks arguing the White House should focus on reducing the U.S. national debt. Given the GOP only has a slim majority in both the Senate and House, they could be defeated even if only a small number of Republicans vote with Democrats in either chamber.
The latest vote took place against the backdrop of a stock market tumble on Friday, with the Dow Jones recording a 5.1 percent fall by early afternoon, following Trump’s announcement of a massive new tariff program on Wednesday and Beijing announcing it would retaliate with a 34 percent tariff on all U.S. goods two days later.
What To Know
The Senate vote lays the groundwork for Republicans in Congress to introduce a new bill featuring major tax cuts, as Trump promised during the 2024 presidential election campaign. These include abolishing taxes on tips, overtime and social security benefits as well as extending corporation and individual tax cuts imposed by Trump in his first administration.
The Senate Republican tax and spending framework approved overnight would also raise the U.S. debt ceiling by up to $5 trillion and provide additional funding for the military and border security.
Paul hit out at the debt ceiling increase from the Senate floor, saying: “This budget resolution proposes to raise the debt ceiling [by] $5 trillion. There’s nothing conservative, absolutely nothing conservative, about adding $5 trillion in debt. This $5 trillion increase in the debt ceiling will be the largest increase ever in the U.S. debt ceiling in one moment. It is reckless and irresponsible.”
I spoke tonight about the irresponsibility of raising the debt ceiling by $5 trillion. I applaud President Trump and the work of @DOGE — but those efforts mean little if we keep drowning the country in debt. Fiscal responsibility must come first. https://t.co/AMoiXEMWxI
— Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) April 5, 2025
Collins argued the framework could lead to Medicaid cuts, which she said would be “very harmful to people in Maine and to our rural hospitals and other health care providers.”
Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley also said he had a “big concern” about potential Medicaid cuts, and had only voted for the Senate framework after Trump made an “unequivocal” pledge that the final bill won’t cut the health benefits.
The Senate Republican framework used a mechanism known as the “current policy” baseline to argue extending Trump 2017 tax cuts wouldn’t count as a spending increase.
This was challenged by Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy who said: “The practical consequences of this is that using ‘current policy’ increases the cost of this bill by $3.8 trillion. It establishes a dangerous precedent. It might be within the rules to do so, but it doesn’t mean that it is wise to do so.”
On Wednesday, the Senate passed a resolution aimed at blocking President Trump’s tariffs on Canadian imports after a 51-48 vote, though this has little chance of making it through the House.
Democrats were joined by Senators Paul, Collins, Mitch McConnell and Lisa Murkowski to deliver this outcome.
What People Are Saying
During his Senate speech, Paul said: “President Trump and DOGE [Department of Government Efficiency] are aggressively finding things to cut but the big spenders in Congress don’t want to make these cuts permanent. If we kick the debt deadline two years down the road the cuts likely will never happen. I propose we cap the debt limit so that we take three months to ensure the cuts are real then address the debt limit alongside the new cuts.”
President Trump backed the Senate Republican agenda on his Truth Social website, commenting: “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
Following the framework’s approval, the Trump administration is expected to push for a major new tax and spending bill to implement its policy commitments. However, this could run into difficulty in the House where some Republicans are arguing the focus should be on controlling the U.S. national debt.
The post Republican Rebels Who Voted Against Trump’s Multitrillion Dollar Tax Breaks appeared first on Newsweek.
