Dead On Arrival?: ‘No Chance’ Trump’s ‘Beautiful’ Bill Can Pass Senate Without Steep Cuts, Lawmakers Say

Conservative fiscal hawks in the Senate are warning that President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill” may be dead on arrival in the upper chamber if the GOP conference does not agree to incorporate steeper spending cuts.

Senate Republicans are facing a critical four week stretch to pass the president’s sweeping tax and spending bill by a July 4 deadline floated by Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Trump administration officials. Deficit-concerned Senate Republicans are calling on Senate GOP leadership to agree to more aggressive spending reductions in the president’s landmark bill than the roughly 1.6 trillion secured by House Republicans.

“There’s no chance it could pass the Senate right now,” Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee said during a Wednesday appearance on “The Charlie Kirk Show.”

Thune can spare just three Republican votes to pass the budget bill given Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer’s pledge that every Democratic senator will vote “no.”

Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who frequently breaks with his party on fiscal issues and foreign affairs, has warned he will oppose the House-drafted bill, citing its inclusion of a $4 trillion increase in the debt ceiling. The president sharply criticized the GOP lawmaker in a Truth Social post Saturday,