Tariff pressure, debt worries and signs of GOP unease

WASHINGTON (AP) — The political battle lines are drawn for a debate in Washington and beyond over a Republican budget plan that’s a cornerstone of President Donald Trump’s domestic agenda.

With the plan’s approval by the GOP-controlled Senate in a vote that ended early Saturday, Republicans hope to leverage their position of power in Washington to enact as much as $7 trillion in tax breaks, boost border security for mass deportations and cut government funding — and do so “without one single Democratic vote,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the Senate Budget Committee chairman.

Democrats, as the minority party, were unable to halt the budget plan. But during the late-night session, they offered a preview of the political attacks likely coming not just during the lead-up to the final vote this summer, but through the 2026 campaign.

“We may not have the votes to stop them all by ourselves,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., told The Associated Press, “but we can use what the Republicans are trying to do with this tax bill to ignite a fire all across this country.”

Here’s a look at what happened and what comes next:

Tariffs shadow the debate

Trump’s tariffs hung over the budget debate, interjecting economic uncertainty in ways unimaginable just days before senators prepared to vote.

Seizing on the moment, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York put forward an amendment to showcase that unease: He called for an end to those recently announced import taxes, which could result in higher prices for household goods, while keeping tariffs on China, Russia, Iran and other U.S. adversaries.

“President Trump’s tariff tax is one of the dumbest things he’s ever done as president, and that’s saying something,” Schumer said.

He repeatedly pointed out that remote islands, including one inhabited by penguins, were hit with tariffs, but not President Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

“Penguins not Putin,” Schumer said.

The amendment failed. The slogan lives on.

Votes to preserve Medicaid, Social Security draw some Republican support

Democrats say Republicans pose grave threats to the nation’s safety net programs as they hunt for cost-savings to help offset the lost revenues from the tax breaks, and as Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency slashes through the federal government.

Among the more than two dozen amendments offered during the debate were several to protect Medicaid, Social Security, food stamps, Head Start child care, Meals on Wheels for older adults, and others. Several Republicans joined Democrats in voting to preserve those programs, including Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, opposed the entire package in a warning against steep Medicaid cuts.

Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., who offered an amendment to save Social Security’s phone service, said Musk and DOGE are “revving up their chainsaw” to come after it.

“They say, ‘Get online, Grandma,'” Markey said, scoffing at the notion of older people not being able to pick up the telephone.

Democrats assail tax cuts as helping the wealthy

Central to the Republican budget — and Trump’s domestic policy agenda — is the effort to preserve the tax breaks approved in 2017 during his first term.

While many of the income tax breaks are popular, including the child tax credit or bolstered standard deduction, Democrats argue that much of the benefit flows to the well-off.

Democrats piled on a series of amendments trying to prohibit tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy, only to be denied by Republicans.

It’s a standoff that’s expected to carry on through the debate, and the campaign season ahead.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-La., shifted the conversation to what Republicans see for them as a more politically favorable direction, focused on federal spending.

“We’ve heard a lot about, you know, massive tax cuts for billionaires,” he said as the evening dragged on. “But the one thing you don’t hear a lot about is the run up in federal spending.”

Debt worries linger and pose challenges for GOP leaders

The nation’s debt load, now $36 trillion, continues to climb.

At least one Republican deficit hawk, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, said no more.

“What is it: Are we cutting spending or are we adding to the debt?” Paul said during debate, before ultimately voting against the bill.

He argued the budget plan would add $5 trillion to the debt over 10 years, echoing an assessment from the bipartisan Joint Committee on Taxation.

“You scratch your head and say, what’s up here?”

But for Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., the impact of the tariffs was a factor in his decision to vote for the budget resolution, despite his concerns that the tax breaks would add to the federal deficit.

Cassidy said he did not want to cast a vote that could “increase uncertainty in the economy.”

“This vote isn’t taking place in a vacuum,” he said.