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Home > World > SALT Caps To Medicaid Cuts: What’s Holding Up Donald Trump’s Big Tax Bill Facing House Test

SALT Caps To Medicaid Cuts: What’s Holding Up Donald Trump’s Big Tax Bill Facing House Test

Donald Trump’s sweeping tax bill scraped through the Senate with a tie-breaking vote from VP JD Vance, but faces turbulence in the House as GOP divisions deepen over deficit concerns, healthcare cuts.

Published By: Ashish Rana
Last Updated: July 2, 2025 19:33:53 IST

Donald Trump’s massive tax bill passed the Senate on Tuesday, just about, with Vice-President JD Vance casting a tie-breaking vote after a marathon debate that saw resistance from half the senators, including certain Republicans. Trump has set a July 4 deadline for the lawmakers to prepare the final version that will be signed into law. The bill will be returning to the US House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Congress, for the purpose.

A vote is likely soon. According to reports, it won’t be very easy for Trump’s allies to clear the bill through the House, which saw an earlier version of the same bill getting cleared in May this year with a margin of a single vote — same as what eventually happened in the Senate on Tuesday.

Though chambers of the Congress have Trump’s Republicans in majority, not everyone in the party are on the same page on key policies in the legislation, according to reports.

As per the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the bill could add over the next decade an estimated $3.3 trillion to the US national deficit (the difference between that expenditure and revenue), compared to the $2.8 trillion estimate for the May version of the bill.

Members of the House Freedom Caucus have threatened to disrupt the bill, a BBC report said.
Many agree with Elon Musk, former adviser and campaign donor to Trump, who has consistently criticised lawmakers for pushing a bill that he says will significantly increase the US national debt.

What Are The Sticking Points?

Many believe the bill will add to the US national deficit, impacting healthcare and other social programmes. According to the BBC report, though Trump wants the House to approve the Senate version of the bill, without any changes, there are some sticking points may not let this happen, with rebel Republicans adding to the problems for Trump’s allies.

The BBC report said representatives from poorer districts are worried that the bill would harm their constituents, eventually hurting them at the 2026 polls. 

Six Republicans could vote down the bill over concerns about cuts to key provisions, including medical coverage.

Nearly 12 million Americans could lose health insurance by 2034 after changes to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act in the Senate’s bill, accordin to a CBO report. The corresponding figure under the May version of the bill is 11 million.

Appearing on former Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s podcast, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Trump loyalist, there was not enough support for the bill in the House. “It’s really a dire situation. We’re on a time clock that’s really been set on us, so we have a lot of pressure,” she said.

The bill also brings forth the contentious issue of deductions for state and local taxes (commonly known as SALT). Currently, taxpayers can deduct up to $10,000, but that cap is set to expire this year. Both the Senate and House have backed a proposal to raise the cap to $40,000. However, the Senate version includes a provision that would revert the cap back to $10,000 after five years, a clause that could create friction with some House Republicans.

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