Debate on President Donald Trump's spending bill has begun in the US Senate since Saturday. If this bill passes, the social welfare budget will be drastically cut.

Trump said he is hopeful that the Senate will pass the bill, calling it "a big beautiful bill". The new legislation continues the tax cuts of his first term.

In addition, the bill covers border security, defense and increased energy production. However, the government will make extensive cuts in spending on health and nutrition related programs. There is no unanimity even within Trump's Republican Party regarding the content of the bill. 

Economists have expressed concern that the new law will deprive millions of Americans of public health services on the one hand, and on the other hand, the increase in spending on defense and border security will increase the country's debt burden by more than 30 trillion dollars.

The Senate formally began debating the bill Saturday night after Republican opponents delayed a procedural vote. Procedural voting delays by Republican opponents fueled Trump's ire on social media.

Senators narrowly passed a motion to begin debate, 49 to 51, after Vice President J.D. Vance joined his party's opponents in negotiations. Along with 47 Democrats, two Republican senators eventually joined in voting "no" in the initial debate.

Trump has put pressure on his desk to get his party to pass the bill and sign it into law by July 4, America's Independence Day. Democrats have vowed to block the debate if they strongly oppose the law and Trump's agenda.

They began by insisting that the entire bill be read aloud in the House before debate began. The bill is about a thousand pages long and will take an estimated 15 hours to read. "Republicans won't tell America what's in the bill," Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Sumner said, "so Democrats are forcing it to be read from cover to cover on the floor." If it needs to be read, we'll be here all night.'

If passed in the Senate, the bill will return to the House for approval. Republicans in the House could only lose a few votes and face strong opposition from within their own ranks.

divisive cuts 

Republicans are struggling to cover the $45 trillion cost of President Trump's tax relief. The proposed cuts would come primarily by eliminating funding for Medicaid, the health insurance program for low-income Americans. Republicans are divided on Medicaid cuts. It would threaten rural hospitals and deprive an estimated 8.6 million Americans of access to health care. The

ing spending plan would also roll back many of the tax incentives for renewable energy put in place under Trump's predecessor, Joe Biden. On Saturday, Elon Musk, a key Trump aide, called the current proposal "absolutely crazy and destructive." "It gives a handout to the industries of the past and severely damages the industries of the future," Musk said.