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Senate Republicans reveal dramatic dealmaking behind Trump’s $3.3T megabill passage
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Senate Republicans left Washington this week to sell President Donald Trump’s «big, beautiful bill,» but the road to creating and passing the legislation began just over a year and a half ago.
Trump’s $3.3 trillion megabill, crammed with his legislative priorities on border security, defense and energy, was a product months in the making. And it was the marquee policy in the bill, which was to extend or make permanent many of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, that was the driving force behind Republicans’ desire to pass it.
But Senate Republicans have had little time to rest on their laurels and celebrate the bill’s passage, spending the month since Trump signed it advancing a $9 billion clawback package and trying to ram through Senate Democrats’ blockade of the president’s nominees.
SENATE PASSES TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ AFTER MARATHON VOTE-A-RAMA
President Donald Trump boards Air Force One bound for Scotland on July 25, 2025, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
The journey to pass the bill began well before Republicans had a trifecta in Washington in early 2024, when then-Senate Republican Conference Chair John Barrasso, R-Wyo., hosted a policy retreat with Senate Republicans to hash out what the GOP’s agenda could look like should the win out in November.
And months later, Trump visited with Senate Republicans to discuss the strategy they had been working on behind-the-scenes.
«With President Trump in the White House, we discussed how Republicans will get America back on track,» Barrasso said at the time. «That starts with helping families escape the pain of Democrat high prices, unleashing American energy, stopping Democrat tax increases, and securing the Southern Border. Republicans are united.»
The real, nitty-gritty work began in January where concepts were taken and fleshed out into legislation.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., opted to leapfrog the House and move forward with the Senate’s own budget framework, which initially divided the «big, beautiful bill» into two chunks. That added pressure on Republicans in the lower chamber to coalesce behind a plan of their own.
For much of the earlier part of this year, however, the Senate was waiting on the House to fine-tune and pass their own version of the bill. Still, Thune and his leadership team, including Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., worked to get a product from one side of the building to the other that the Senate GOP could work with.
TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ FACES REPUBLICAN FAMILY FEUD AS SENATE REVEALS ITS FINAL TEXT
Reporters surround Senate Majority Leader John Thune as he moves between his office and the Senate Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Aug. 1, 2025, in Washington. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
And when the bill made its way to the upper chamber in early June, the pressure was on to deliver a finished product to Trump by July 4, an artificial deadline used to help corral lawmakers into finishing work on the bill.
One of the major disagreements in the upper chamber before the bill ever hit the floor was over the nature of cuts to Medicaid, particularly aimed at the provider tax rate. The issue was eventually smoothed over through the creation of a $50 billion rural hospital fund, but lawmakers who sounded the alarm against it vowed to ensure that the changes to the provider would never take effect.
«I think it was a huge mistake,» Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said at the time. «I think this has been an unhappy episode here in Congress, this effort to cut Medicaid.»
«And I think, frankly, my party needs to do some soul-searching,» he continued. «If you want to be a working class party, you’ve got to get delivered for working class people. You cannot take away health care from working people.»
And when the bill did finally hit the floor for what would evolve into a multi-day affair of passing through procedural hurdles, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., forcing the reading of the entire bill and a marathon vote-a-rama, Senate Republicans were still not entirely on board.
At first, a cohort of fiscal hawks led by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., appeared to not support the package — they wanted even deeper cuts to Medicaid by tweaking the percentage that the federal government pays for healthcare in states that opted into Obamacare, which they argued would have saved billions extra.
They were offered an amendment that eventually never came to the floor, but was enough for them to back down from tanking the bill. And their resistance began in the first of a handful of huddles inside Thune’s office outside the Senate floor.
TAX CUTS, WORK REQUIREMENTS AND ASYLUM FEES: HERE’S WHAT’S INSIDE THE SENATE’S VERSION OF TRUMP’S BILL
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina announced in June that he wouldn’t run for a third term in the Senate when he is up for re-election in 2026. (Getty Images)
Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., joined them for the closed-door conversations, and told Fox News Digital that while her vote was not contingent on getting the change added, she wanted to make the case for why it should be.
«It saved a lot of money,» she said. «It saved a lot of money, and so I was anxious to see us use the opportunity, since we were able to open up mandatory spending, use the opportunity to really save some money.»
And later on, in the wee hours of the night, Republicans were bouncing from Thune’s office to the Senate floor, hashing out deals as they went to get Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, to support the bill, knowing that Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., could vote against it.
«Sometimes it’s got to be put on a clock, because at some point the argument has to come to an end,» Mullin told Fox News Digital. «And that’s why we had to do some of it on the floor. We had to, we had to force the hand.»
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And in the end, only three Republicans, Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Collins and Tillis voted against the bill. From there it went to the House, where Republicans in the lower chamber had their own dramatic rally to pass the legislative behemoth.
And now, as Republicans scatter to their home states to sell the bill to their constituents, Tillis said that the «foundational» piece of information that lawmakers can share is that they averted a nationwide tax hike.
«The shame of the Medicaid provision is that the vast majority of the bill is supported,» he told Fox News Digital. «I think we have to remind them the problem with the tax bill is they’re not going to see a cut, but if we hadn’t done it, they would have seen a historic increase.»
«So we need to remind them of what we’re doing is continuing what we started, and the economy that we created, it was able to withstand COVID,» he continued. «And I firmly believe if we hadn’t passed it. We’d have been in a different posture.»
politics,senate,donald trump,republicans
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With the November election just 15 days out, the Republican nominee in one of the nation’s only two races for governor this year is feeling confident.
«The energy across the state is electric. The reception in minority communities has been great, and on being endorsed by prominent Democrats, that tells you all you need to know in terms of the people of New Jersey wanting change. And that’s what this election is all about. Change,» Jack Ciattarelli said this weekend in an interview on «Fox News Sunday.»
Ciattarelli, who’s making his third straight run for Garden State governor and who nearly upset Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy four years ago, has good reason to be optimistic he can pull off victory in blue-leaning New Jersey.
In a state where registered Democrats still outnumber Republicans despite a GOP surge in registration this decade, three public opinion polls released last week — from Fox News, Quinnipiac University and Fairleigh Dickinson University — indicated Ciattarelli narrowing the gap with Democratic gubernatorial nominee Rep. Mikie Sherrill in the race to succeed the term-limited Murphy.
THE POLITICAL BOMB TRUMP EXPLODED IN THE NEW JERSEY SHOWDOWN FOR GOVERNOR
Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican nominee for governor in New Jersey, speaks to supporters at a diner in Saddle Brook, N.J., on Oct. 15, 2025. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
The Fox News poll conducted Oct. 10 – 14, put Sherrill at 50% support among likely voters, with Ciattarelli at 45%. Sherrill’s 5-point advantage was down from an 8-point lead in Fox News’ September survey in New Jersey.
New Jersey and Virginia are the only two states to hold gubernatorial showdowns in the year after a presidential election, and the contests traditionally grab outsized attention and are viewed as political barometers ahead of the following year’s midterm elections.
CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING
And this year, they’re being viewed, in part, as ballot-box referendums on President Donald Trump’s unprecedented and combustible second-term agenda.
While Democrats have long dominated federal and state legislative elections in blue-leaning New Jersey, Republicans are very competitive in gubernatorial contests, winning five out of the past 10 elections.
President Donald Trump, seen speaking during a campaign event at Wildwood Beach in Wildwood, New Jersey, May 11, 2024, will headline a tele-rally for Jack Ciattarelli, the 2025 Republican gubernatorial nominee in the Garden State. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
And Trump made major gains in New Jersey in last year’s presidential election, losing the state by only six percentage points, a major improvement over his 16-point deficit four years earlier.
Ciattarelli, interviewed by Fox News Digital last week in Bayonne, New Jersey, noted that he «made big gains» in his 2021 showing «in Hudson County and Passaic County,» two long-time Democratic Party strongholds.
«And the President did very, very well in ’24 in those very same counties. And if you take a look at who’s been endorsing me, including some very prominent Democrats here in Hudson County, people want change,» Ciattarelli emphasized.
But Ciattarelli is also aiming to energize Republican base voters in what’s likely to be a low-turnout election.
Multiple sources confirmed to Fox News that Trump will hold a tele-rally with Ciattarelli ahead of Election Day. Trump’s teaming up with Ciattarelli may help energize MAGA supporters, many of whom are low propensity voters who often skip casting ballots in non-presidential election years.
Republican gubernatorial candidate in Ohio Vivek Ramaswamy headlines a campaign event for New Jersey GOP nominee for governor Jack Ciattarelli, on Oct. 15, 2025, in Saddle Brook, N.J. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
And last week, Ciattarelli was joined at a jam-packed diner stop in Saddle Brook, New Jersey, by Vivek Ramaswamy, the MAGA rock star who is running for governor next year in his home state of Ohio.
Ramaswamy, the multimillionaire biotech entrepreneur and conservative commentator who pushed an «America First 2.0» platform as he ran for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination before ending his bid and becoming one of Trump’s top supporters and surrogates, told Fox News Digital that a Ciattarelli win this year would «set the table for even bigger and more decisive victories, hopefully in places like Ohio next year.»
And this week another well-known Republican politician in MAGA world is headed to New Jersey.
Fox News has learned the Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida, a top House ally of the president who has Trump’s backing as he runs next year for Florida governor, will team up with Ciattarelli on Wednesday.
ONLY ON FOX: RAMASWAMY SAYS GOP VICTORIES IN THE 2025 ELECTIONS WOULD ‘SET THE TABLE’ FOR BIGGER WINS IN 2026
Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin, commenting on why Republicans feel bullish about the New Jersey showdown, raised concerns.
«New Jersey is the best place, probably, for Donald Trump to actually stop the Democratic momentum — or at least minimize the Democratic momentum that we’ve seen throughout this year,» Martin said in a Politico interview.
But the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) forecasts a Sherrill victory in two weeks.
«As numerous polls show her holding a strong lead and earning more than 50% of the vote, Mikie Sherrill is rising to meet the moment in this incredibly competitive race,» DGA spokesperson Izzi Levy told Fox News. «It’s clear that Mikie has the momentum, and that New Jersey voters are all-in to reject Ciattarelli for a third time this November.»
Sherrill had plenty of company on the campaign trail this weekend from major Democratic Party surrogates, including two of the biggest names in the party — Govs. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Wes Moore of Maryland.
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Rep. Mikie of New Jersey, left, teams up on the campaign trail with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, in Newark, N.J., on Oct. 19, 2025. (Mikie Sherrill campaign )
«From Maryland to New Jersey, we’re united with one goal – making sure every voice is heard at the ballot box,» Moore wrote on social media. «Proud to stand with @MikieSherrill and community members in Newark to get out the vote. Let’s finish strong this November!»
And former President Barack Obama endorsed Sherrill and starred in a new ad for the party’s nominee.
CIATTARELLI WELCOMES TRUMP’S HELP IN FINAL STRETCH IN BATTLE FOR NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR
While Trump isn’t on the ballot, he’s loomed large over the New Jersey gubernatorial election.
At the second and final debate two weeks ago, Sherrill charged that her GOP rival had «shown zero signs of standing up to this president. In fact, the president himself called Jack 100% MAGA, and he’s shown every sign of being that.»
New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial nominee Rep. Mikie Sherrill, right, and Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli, on the stage moments at the start of their second and final debate, on Oct. 8, 2025, in New Brunswick, N.J. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News Digital)
Asked whether he considered himself part of the MAGA movement, Ciattarelli said he was «part of a New Jersey movement.»
HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON THE 2025 ELECTIONS
When asked to grade the president’s performance so far during his second term, Ciattarelli said, «I’d certainly give the president an A. I think he’s right about everything that he’s doing.»
«I think that tells us all we need to know about who Jack Ciattarelli’s supporting. I give him an F right now,» Sherrill responded, as she pointed to New Jersey’s high cost of living.
Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee in New Jersey, takes questions from reporters following a debate on Oct. 8, 2025, in New Brunswick, N.J. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
The race in New Jersey was rocked a couple of weeks ago by a report that the National Personnel Records Center, which is a branch of the National Archives and Records Administration, mistakenly released Sherrill’s improperly redacted military personnel files, which included private information like her Social Security number, to a Ciattarelli ally.
But Sherrill’s military records indicated that the United States Naval Academy blocked her from taking part in her 1994 graduation amid a cheating scandal.
The showdown was jolted again two weeks ago after Sherrill’s allegations that Ciattarelli was «complicit» with pharmaceutical companies in the opioid deaths of tens of thousands of New Jerseyans, as she pointed to the medical publishing company he owned that pushed content promoting the use of opioids as a low-risk treatment for chronic pain.
Last week, Trump set off a political hand grenade in the race, as he «terminated» billions of federal dollars for the Gateway Project, which is funding a new train tunnel under the Hudson River connecting New Jersey and New York.
Sherrill, holding a news conference Thursday at a major commuter rail station just a few miles from the site of the tunnels in one of the busiest train corridors in the nation, called the project «critical» as she took aim at Trump and Ciattarelli.
«I’m fighting for the people of New Jersey. He’s fighting to excuse Trump. It’s unacceptable,» Sherrill charged.
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New Jersey traditionally elects a governor from the party out of power in the White House, which this year favors the Democrats.
But Garden State voters haven’t elected a governor from the same party in three straight elections in over a half century, which would favor the Republicans.
One of those political trends will be busted in next month’s election.
jack ciattarelli,mikie sherrill,donald trump,elections,2025 2026 elections coverage,new jersey,gubernatorial,campaigning
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Netanyahu se reunió con los enviados de Trump en medio de la crisis que amenaza la tregua en Gaza
El primer ministro israelí, Benjamin Netanyahu, se reunió el lunes con los emisarios estadounidenses Steve Witkoff y Jared Kushner después del estallido de hostilidades en Gaza que amenazan la tregua impulsada por el presidente Donald Trump.
“El primer ministro Netanyahu se encontró hoy con el enviado especial Steve Witkoff y el yerno del presidente Trump, Jared Kushner, para abordar los eventos y novedades en la región”, dijo Shosh Bedrosian, portavoz de la oficina del dirigente israelí.
La visita de los emisarios a Tel Aviv se produce un día después de que el frágil acuerdo enfrentara su primera crisis importante, cuando Israel amenazó con detener las transferencias de ayuda humanitaria luego de que militantes de Hamás mataran a dos soldados israelíes, según informó el ejército israelí.
El portavoz de Netanyahu también anunció una visita “de varios días” a Israel del vicepresidente estadounidense, JD Vance, y su esposa. “Se reunirán con el primer ministro”, afirmó.
La embajada de Estados Unidos confirmó que los dos enviados habían aterrizado en Tel Aviv. Más tarde, el ejército israelí anunció que reanudó la aplicación del alto el fuego, y un funcionario confirmó que las entregas de ayuda se reanudarían el lunes. A primera hora de la tarde, no estaba claro de inmediato si el flujo de ayuda se había restablecido.
Han pasado más de una semana desde el inicio de la tregua propuesta por Estados Unidos, destinada a poner fin a dos años de guerra. El presidente Trump dijo a periodistas a bordo del Air Force One el domingo que Hamas ha estado “bastante alborotado” y “han estado disparando”.
También sugirió que la violencia podría ser culpa de “rebeldes” dentro de la organización en lugar de su liderazgo.
Desde que comenzó el alto el fuego, las fuerzas de seguridad de Hamas han regresado a las calles de Gaza, enfrentándose con grupos armados y matando a presuntos delincuentes en lo que el grupo terrorista dice que es un intento de restaurar la ley y el orden en áreas donde las tropas israelíes se han retirado.
El domingo, el ejército israelí informó que militantes habían disparado contra tropas en áreas de la ciudad de Rafah que están bajo control israelí según las líneas del alto el fuego acordadas.
Hamas, que continuó acusando a Israel de múltiples violaciones del alto el fuego, dijo que la comunicación con sus unidades restantes en Rafah había estado cortada durante meses y que “no somos responsables de ningún incidente que ocurra en esas áreas”.
Las próximas etapas del alto el fuego se espera que se centren en el desarme de Hamas, la retirada israelí de áreas adicionales que controla en Gaza y el futuro gobierno del devastado territorio. El plan estadounidense propone el establecimiento de una autoridad respaldada internacionalmente.
En una entrevista con “60 Minutes” durante el fin de semana, Kushner dijo que el éxito o fracaso del acuerdo dependerá de si Israel y el mecanismo internacional pueden crear una alternativa viable a Hamas. “Si tienen éxito, Hamas fracasará y Gaza no será una amenaza para Israel en el futuro”, afirmó.
Mientras tanto, una delegación de Hamas liderada por el negociador jefe Khalil al-Hayya estaba en El Cairo para hacer seguimiento de la implementación del acuerdo de alto el fuego con mediadores y otros grupos palestinos.
Un funcionario de seguridad israelí dijo el lunes a la agencia AP que la ayuda continuaría ingresando a Gaza a través de Kerem Shalom y otros cruces después de la inspección israelí, en línea con el acuerdo. El funcionario habló bajo condición de anonimato de acuerdo con las regulaciones militares.
En su ataque del 7 de octubre de 2023 contra Israel que desencadenó la guerra, terroristas liderados por Hamas mataron a alrededor de 1.200 personas, en su mayoría civiles, y secuestraron a 251 personas como rehenes.
La guerra entre Israel y Hamas ha matado a más de 68.000 palestinos, según el Ministerio de Salud de Gaza, que no distingue entre civiles y combatientes en su recuento. Miles más están desaparecidos, según la Cruz Roja.
Diplomacy / Foreign Policy,North America,WASHINGTON
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