Senate GOP clears budget blueprint after overnight vote-a-rama
Democrats forced dozens of politically charged votes on Medicaid, Social Security, and tax breaks for the wealthy, but Republicans held together to advance Trump’s agenda.
Senate Republicans survived a seven-hour marathon of politically fraught amendment votes to pass a budget blueprint early Saturday morning that would unlock a filibuster-proof path for enacting President Trump’s second-term domestic agenda on a party-line vote.
Allow me to explain: During a grueling overnight vote-a-rama that began Friday evening, Senate Democrats and Republicans clashed over more than two dozen messaging amendments to the GOP plan.
Vote-a-ramas are a quirky feature of the budget process, where senators can force hours of back-to-back amendment votes as part of the rules for advancing legislation that the minority party can’t block.
Democrats used the process to spotlight likely Republican policy outcomes: cuts to Medicaid, Social Security, the Social Security Administration, and the IRS, along with tax breaks for the wealthy and higher prices from Trump’s tariffs.
None of their amendments were adopted. Several fell just short of a simple majority, including proposals from Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) targeting GOP threats to health care and prescription drug affordability.
A progressive push to raise the federal minimum wage to $17, led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), also fell short.
The only amendment that passed—offered by Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska)—established a deficit-neutral reserve fund aimed at protecting Medicare and Medicaid.
What they’re saying: “Senate Republicans sided with billionaires and against the middle class in a betrayal of the American people,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said. “The odds of a recession in America are surging because of Donald Trump’s tariffs, and Senate Republicans have gone along. In fact, they are aiding and abetting it.”
Senate Republicans accused Democrats of mischaracterizing the resolution.
“This resolution is the first step toward a final bill to make permanent the tax relief we implemented in 2017 and deliver a transformational investment in our border, national, and energy security—all accompanied by substantial savings measures and commonsense reforms to our government,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said.
In the know: The 70-page resolution lays the groundwork for a sweeping reconciliation bill to carry out Trump’s top domestic priorities.
It seeks to make the 2017 tax cuts permanent and proposes new tax reductions, including eliminating taxes on tips and overtime pay.
It includes instructions for congressional committees to cut at least $1 billion each, with much steeper targets expected. For example, the House Energy and Commerce Committee is directed to cut $880 billion—most of which would likely come from Medicaid, according to an independent analysis by the congressional budget scorekeeper.
The resolution also calls for raising the federal debt ceiling by up to $5 trillion to avoid a borrowing crisis before the 2026 midterms.
It includes a $150 billion increase in defense spending over ten years and a $175 billion boost for border security.
Not so fast: The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates the resolution could add up to $6.9 trillion to the national debt over the next decade.
The blueprint also relies on a controversial accounting tactic that assumes expiring tax cuts will be extended at no cost—a move criticized by Democrats and even some Republicans.
How we got here: Senate Republicans unveiled the compromise blueprint last Wednesday to set spending and revenue targets tied to Trump’s tax, border, defense, and energy priorities.
They preferred a two-bill strategy to divide Trump’s agenda into more manageable chunks to deliver Trump an early win.
House Republicans, by contrast, pushed for “one big beautiful bill” that would deliver everything at once—a cleaner approach, they argued, especially given Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) narrow three-vote majority.
The House and Senate passed competing budget resolutions in February, exposing strategic rifts within the party.
The Senate resolution passed 52–48, with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) opposed. It included $175 billion for border enforcement and $150 billion in defense spending but no extension of the 2017 tax cuts. Paul opposed this morning’s resolution as well.
The House plan passed 217–215, with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) the only Republican “no” vote. It included $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, $2 trillion in spending reductions over ten years, and a $4 trillion debt limit increase.
Looking ahead: The House is expected to take up the Senate-passed blueprint this week—if Johnson can resolve an intra-party standoff over remote voting for new parents.
If the House adopts the resolution, the hard part begins: committees will draft legislation to meet the blueprint’s fiscal targets.
Once complete, the provisions are bundled into a single reconciliation bill by the House and Senate Budget Committees and then sent to the floor for a final up-or-down vote.