Trump would have expected some criticism to his ‘The One, Big, Beautiful Bill’.

You know the kind where a critic calls his One, Big, Beautiful Bill, ‘ugly’ or ‘stupid’ or something drawn from a pool of words synonymous to those two.

He must have known those were coming and must have prepared for those kinds of verbal barbs.

Perhaps, in his mind’s eye, he would have had a plan: to duck, deflect, parry, or even counter those.

But to have it called a “disgusting abomination” must have cut deep.

That’s the kind of barb that sticks.

And is now in plain sight for everyone to see, as the Senate votes on the bill.

Trump intends to sign this bill into law by July 4th.

Here is where it gets interesting:

The Senate is considering this bill under a congressional procedure known as “budget reconciliation”. The use of this procedure limits amendments and potential obstruction; and does not require a 60-vote supermajority (in a 100-seat Senate).

Only a simple majority would do.

With the Republicans holding a 53-47 margin in the senate, you would think that they have got this in the bag?

One Big Beauty looks done and dusted, until you factor in the timing of Musk’s very public tirade.

Has Musk done enough to get at least 4 Republicans ─ a 50-50 will have the VP cast the tiebreaker, so the Republicans will need to lose more than 3 votes ─ to turn into Fiscal Hawks?