Discussion Thread: US Senate Debates and Considers the Republican Budget Resolution on April 4th, 2025

[u/PoliticsModeratorBot]

News and Analysis

• CBS: Senate Republicans unveil budget resolution key to unlocking Trump agenda (Published two days ago)

• NBC: Senate Republicans vote to advance a massive budget blueprint for Trump's agenda | The Senate voted 52-48 to begin debate on a multitrillion-dollar plan that would cut taxes, boost spending for immigration enforcement and the military and raise the debt limit. (Published yesterday)

• NBC: GOP concerns about tax cut strategy and Medicaid loom over Senate budget

• AP: Republicans moving ahead with Trump’s ‘big’ bill of tax breaks and spending cuts amid tariff uproar

• ABC: Video: Senate Republicans set to push Trump agenda forward with vote-a-rama

• Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget: Senate Budget Could Enable Unprecedented Deficit Increase

Live Updates

Relevant text-based, live update pages are being maintained by the following outlets: NBC, and Politico (soft paywall).

Where to Watch

• PBS NewsHour via YouTube: Senate convenes as Republicans push for Trump’s budget bill of tax and spending cuts

• C-SPAN: U.S. Senate, 2025-04-04 | The Senate is considering a revised version of the 2025 House Republicans' budget resolution.

[u/SUNTAN_1]

The way he talks about tariffs as if they are an infinite money glitch --- "We are gonna charge THEM using these tariffs!" and is so consistent with that messaging as if he almost believes it, is almost just as psycho as "We're building a wall, and Mexico is gonna pay for it!"

Note that the "Mexico is gonna pay for it!" part was a distraction, designed to obfuscate confuse and bamboozle --- because his REAL goal was to be able to get Congress to cough up taxpayer funding for a 300 billion dollar construction project where HE would get to hand-pick and choose all the contractors and subcontractors.

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And now, tariffs. Let's simplify it, with washing machines.

(a) Five million Americans want to buy a washing machine for cleaning their clothes. They could "buy American" for $1200, or buy one imported from China for $600. EVERYONE buys the $600 washing machine.

(b) Trump announces 50 percent tariff on washing machines.

(c) HOME DEPOT, LOWES or whoever sells washing machines, keeps buying washing machines from China, but now sells them for $900 --- still cheaper than an American-made washing machine.

(d) The American Consumer ends up paying the higher price.

[u/tapwater86 → u/SUNTAN_1]

And even if he applied large enough tariffs for American made goods to become cheap enough for companies to consider moving manufacturing and jobs back to the US:

• He's proven he can change his mind on applying tariffs and their amount on whim

• He's applied all of these via Executive Authority which can easily be overturned by the next president if we ever have one

No sane company is going to start making investments that will take multiple years to pay off when there's a chance that it all is for nothing.

[u/NumeralJoker → u/tapwater86]

And with the Republicans in charge, those jobs will end up being sweatshop style positions anyway because there will be 0 effective protections in the labor market.