Senate Republicans have narrowly advanced a sprawling budget bill that is pivotal to President Donald Trump's second-term agenda ahead of a self-imposed 4 July deadline.

While all Republicans voted 'yes' to pass the bill, Thom Tillis, Ron Johnson and Rand Paul sided with the Democrats, making the bill pass with a narrow 51 to 49 vote.

As per the BBC, Republican party leadership had been twisting arms for the initial vote on what Trump calls his "Big Beautiful Bill" on Saturday, after the release of its latest version – all 940 pages – shortly after midnight.

Republicans were divided over how much to cut welfare programmes in order to extend $3.8 trn in Trump tax breaks. 

The proposed cuts in the bill would strip millions of America's poorest of health insurance.

Trump declared the progress a "great victory" in a late-night social media post.

Trump said, “As President of the USA, I am proud of them all, and look forward to working with them to GROW OUR ECONOMY, REDUCE WASTEFUL SPENDING, SECURE OUR BORDER, FIGHT FOR OUR MILITARY/VETS, ENSURE THAT OUR MEDICAID SYSTEM HELPS THOSE WHO TRULY NEED IT, PROTECT OUR SECOND AMENDMENT, AND SO MUCH MORE. GOD BLESS AMERICA & MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”

The bill needs a simple majority to clear the Senate. With Republicans holding 53 seats out of 100, plus Vance's tiebreaker, the party can only afford three defections.

Musk labels bill ‘utterly insane and destructive’ 

Trump celebrated the passing of the big, beautiful bill as ‘a great victory’ for the Republican party. Taking to X, Trump wrote, “Tonight we saw a GREAT VICTORY in the Senate with the “GREAT, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL,” but, it wouldn't have happened without the Fantastic Work of Senator Rick Scott, Senator Mike Lee, Senator Ron Johnson, and Senator Cynthia Lummis.”

However, Elon Musk criticized the latest version of Trump’s sprawling tax and spending bill, calling it “utterly insane and destructive.

“The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country!” Musk wrote on Saturday as the Senate was scheduled to call a vote to open debate on the nearly 1,000-page bill.

“Utterly insane and destructive,” Musk added. “It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future.”

Passing the package, Musk said, would be “political suicide for the Republican Party.”