By David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump and his allies in the Senate face a political free-for-all over passage of his sweeping tax-cut and spending legislation, which Republican congressional leaders hope to enact in coming days despite growing resistance from different party factions.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, House Speaker Mike Johnson and administration officials are pressing Republican lawmakers to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill Act so Trump can sign it into law before the July 4 U.S. Independence Day holiday.

However, hardline Republicans have redoubled their push for additional spending cuts after an official forecast that the bill would add at least $2.8 trillion to the $36.2 trillion U.S. debt. Other lawmakers, looking to minimize the impact of cuts on social programs including Medicaid, have also voiced adamant opposition to the bill’s language.

Republicans control the Senate by a 53-47 majority and the House by 220-212. One Republican from each chamber has opposed the legislation from the beginning due to the debt.

Thune aims to begin Senate action by the middle of this week and complete passage by the weekend, sending the bill back to the House for final approval.

Trump is expected to turn up the heat on senators this week, according to Republican lawmakers who view him as the closer.

“Great unity in the Republican Party, perhaps unity like we have never seen before. Now let’s get the Great, Big, Beautiful Bill done,” Trump said in a social media post on Sunday.

Lawmakers are still waiting for the Senate parliamentarian, the chamber’s nonpartisan gatekeeper, to decide whether the legislation qualifies for the privileged status needed to circumvent Democrats and the 60-vote Senate filibuster, allowing it to pass with only 51 votes.

“The Senate Republican bill is, simply put, bigger cuts, bigger betrayal,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said. “It makes even deeper cuts to healthcare. It destroys American clean energy. It raises costs on working and middle-class families. And it rewards those at the very top,” he added.

PUSHBACK

Some Republicans are pushing back on Thune’s schedule in hopes of gaining more time to negotiate more savings.

“There’s no way. There’s no way,” Senator Ron Johnson, a leading fiscal hawk who wants to cut federal spending back to pre-COVID pandemic levels, said when asked if he could support the bill this week.

The Wisconsin Republican stated he is coordinating with fellow hardline Senators Mike Lee and Rick Scott, who want to find additional savings from green tax credits and the Medicaid healthcare program for lower-income Americans, respectively.

“If we had all the money in the world, why would you make a change? We don’t. We’re running $2 trillion deficits,” Scott told reporters.

The legislation has yet to gain approval from the Senate parliamentarian, a nonpartisan referee who has indicated that Republican efforts to restrict food assistance, curtail judges’ powers, slash funding for financial watchdogs, and reverse Biden vehicle policy violate budgetary rules.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported last week that the House version of the bill could lead to a $2.8 trillion increase in the federal deficit over the next decade.

The deficit hike could total $3.4 trillion if rising interest payments due to increased borrowing needs are included, according to the agency, which considered the bill’s potential impact on economic activity. This report contradicted Republican claims that tax cuts would spur economic growth and pay for themselves through higher revenues from increased business activity.

During a Senate floor speech last week, Thune cited a White House Council of Economic Advisers projection that the legislation would increase federal revenue by $4.1 trillion, stating it would more than offset the CBO’s deficit estimate.

MEDICAID HIT

A revised Senate version of the legislation would cut Medicaid provider taxes from 6% to 3.5% by 2031 in states that expanded the program to able-bodied recipients under the Affordable Care Act. This provision is opposed by several Senate Republicans who argue it would undercut funding for rural hospitals.

“They cannot defund rural hospitals,” said Senator Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican championing Medicaid funding.

But Republicans indicated that the time for negotiations would soon end and predicted wavering members would ultimately support the legislation.

“Some people are going to have to settle for a ham and egg sandwich without the ham. That’s just the way it is,” remarked Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana.