On Monday, members of the Ultrac Conservative House Freedom Caucus expressed their refusal to support the Senate’s Big Beautiful Bill Act, citing inadequate spending cuts as a primary concern.
As the Senate managed to pass several votes regarding the megaville amendment, the 32 members of the Freedom Caucus emphasized that if their Republican counterparts expect the measures to secure passage in the House and reach President Trump’s desk, significant changes are necessary.
“The Senate version increases the deficit by $651 billion, even before considering interest costs—almost double the total,” the group stated.
They further stressed that the spending bill fails to sufficiently address the national debt. “This is not financially responsible. It doesn’t align with our agreement,” the Caucus mentioned. “The Senate must implement major changes and align more closely with the agreed House budget framework. Republicans need to improve.”
According to an analysis by the Non-Participation Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the current iteration of the spending bill is projected to raise the national debt by $3.3 trillion over the next decade.
Moreover, these estimates do not factor in interest on the debt, which could push the total increase in the deficit to roughly $3.9 trillion, as noted by the CBO.
The growing national debt prompted alarm among ultra-conservative caucus members, who indicated that if their demands are not met, the bill will likely fail in the House when brought forward.
“In its current form, I doubt it will survive,” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) remarked in an interview on Sunday. “We made that clear to the senators.”
Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO) added that even with proposed cuts to Medicaid spending, the Senate’s adjustments aren’t sufficient to garner the Caucus’s support.
Previously, the Freedom Caucus voiced similar critiques of the initial version of the bill that lawmakers considered last month.
With a July 4 deadline set by President Trump and GOP leaders for the bill to be enacted, Republicans are looking to employ a settlement process to bypass the 60-vote requirement needed to overcome a Democratic filibuster.
Currently, Republicans maintain a 53-47 majority in the Senate and a slight edge of 220-212 in the House.
