Trump, Treasury chief press for final agreement on sweeping legislation before debt limit deadline
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The Senate is preparing to vote Friday on the sweeping One Big Beautiful Bill Act, with top Republicans predicting a deal is close on one of the legislation’s key sticking points — the cap on state and local tax deductions, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday, according to The Hill.
Speaking to reporters after a closed-door meeting with Senate Republicans, Bessent said party leaders in both chambers expect to resolve the tax deduction issue within 48 hours.
President Donald Trump will be “fully engaged” in securing final passage of the bill, Bessent added. The legislation would enact major planks of Trump’s campaign platform and is seen as a critical test of GOP unity ahead of the July 4 deadline the president set for sending the bill to his desk.
Bessent also warned that the government is approaching the “warning track” on raising the federal debt limit, with borrowing authority set to expire next month. He cautioned that court rulings requiring the administration to refund tariffs collected under Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act could accelerate the so-called “X date” for raising the limit.
“I can tell you we’re getting close to the warning track,” Bessent said, while stressing that “the U.S. would never default on its debt.”
The Senate is still negotiating proposed tax exemptions for tipped income and overtime pay, which are expected to be narrower than provisions included in the House version of the bill. When asked whether the Senate proposals had been scaled down, Bessent pushed back.
“I don’t know why you would call them scaled-down,” he said. “We’ll see what happens between the Senate and the House. I am confident that what the Senate passes over to the House will move through the House very quickly.”
Bessent predicted that the entire package would clear both chambers with speed and reach Trump’s desk before the Independence Day deadline.