Treasury Department Secretary Scott Bessent said the Senate is on track to vote Friday on the GOP megabill to enact President Trump’s agenda, and that the president would be fully involved in helping gather support for the bill in the final days.
Bessent spoke to reporters after meeting with GOP senators in the Capitol as Republican leaders race to reach consensus on key provisions.
He predicted that Senate and House Republicans would reach a deal on raising the cap on state and local tax deductions, a major sticking point, in the next 24 to 48 hours.
“I just had a very successful lunch meeting with the senators, I think that we are, hopefully, on track for a vote this Friday,” he said.
Bessent predicted the legislation would also pass the House quickly and make it to Trump’s desk by the July 4 deadline the president set for the bill.
Bessent advised that the federal government is on the “warning track” for raising the debt limit before its borrowing authority expires next month.
He warned that the so-called X date for raising the debt limit could be moved up significantly if courts rule that the administration must refund tariffs collected under Trump’s invocation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
“I can tell you we’re getting close to the warning track,” he said, though he insisted the United States will never default on its debt.
Bessent said that Trump would continue to be involved in negotiations and whipping Republican support for the bill in the final days and hours of its consideration.
He pushed back on a reporter who asked about the scaled-down size of the Senate’s proposals to shield tipped income and overtime wages from taxation, even though the Senate proposals are less generous than what the House proposed.
“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.”
