Welch claims Alaska senator given anything she wanted in return for yes

by Guy Page 

Much to the disgust of Vermont senators Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch, both aligned with the Democrat minority, the U.S. Senate approved the One Big Beautiful Bill budget measure at noon today.

The OBBB, which resets national spending and taxation according to priorities set by President Donald Trump [see VDC overview of bill], passed 51-50, with Vice President J.D. Vance casting the tie-breaking vote. Republican Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, voted no, Center Square reports.

The OBBB now returns to the House, where the lower chamber will consider Senate changes to the bill it passed on May 22. 

At 10:40 AM, Welch – looking tired and despondent after pulling an all-nighter on the Senate floor – aired a video on X claiming “it’s a disaster.” The Republicans negotiated concessions to Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, ‘giving her whatever she wanted to get her vote,” Welch claimed.

Welch, the former president pro tem of the Vermont Senate, is no stranger to last-minute dickering in order to pass legislation. 

In the end, the Republicans had enough to make Welch and Bernie’s No votes part of the minority. “I just voted against final passage of President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” Welch X’ed at 12:04 PM.

Welch added later: “This bill is designed to do one thing: Give a massive tax cut to billionaires by taking from working families.”

Supporters of OBBB say it preserves extensive tax cuts passed in Congress during the first Trump administration.

“It’s the largest cut to Medicaid in history. It cuts SNAP assistance for millions. It will force hundreds of rural hospitals around the country to close. It eliminates clean energy projects. It kicks students off Pell grants,” Welch continued. “And by the way, it adds trillions to our national debt.”

The Trump administration says economic growth empowered by the OBBB will greatly reduce the deficit within a decade.

Sanders had not issued a social media statement following the passage of the bill, but on June 29 declared it the “worst piece of legislation in modern American history.”

Trump was exultant at the Senate win. He warned the House Republican ‘grandstanders’ to get behind the bill.

‘Almost all of our Great Republicans in the United States Senate have passed our “ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL,” he said on Truth Social shortly after 2 PM. ” It is no longer a “House Bill” or a “Senate Bill”. It is everyone’s Bill. There is so much to be proud of, and EVERYONE got a major Policy WIN — But, the Biggest Winner of them all will be the American People, who will have Permanently Lower Taxes, Higher Wages and Take Home Pay, Secure Borders, and a Stronger and More Powerful Military. Additionally, Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security Benefits are not being cut, but are being STRENGTHENED and PROTECTED from the Radical and Destructive Democrats by eliminating Waste, Fraud, and Abuse from those Programs.

We can have all of this right now, but only if the House GOP UNITES, ignores its occasional “GRANDSTANDERS” (You know who you are!), and does the right thing, which is sending this Bill to my desk. We are on schedule — Let’s keep it going, and be done before you and your family go on a July 4thvacation. The American People need and deserve it. They sent us here to, GET IT DONE!”