Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota said he is hopeful the GOP has the votes to pass the budget bill ahead of President Donald Trump’s self-imposed deadline.
The U.S. Senate late Saturday barely approved a procedural vote to move the massive spending bill forward after Republicans released their updated version the night before.
Nine hours later, the senators approved the resolution 51-49 with two Republicans joining all Democrats. Vice President JD Vance was in the chamber to break a tie if necessary.
The vote began at 7:30 p.m.
Lisa Murkowski of Alaska was a late holdout until she was persuaded to approve the measure after huddling with GOP leaders for more than one hour. Then, Republicans Rick Scott of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming joined their Republican colleagues in approving the motion after 11 p.m.
Ron Johnson of Wisconsin initially voted no but hours later changed his mind.
Voting no were Republicans Thomas Tillis of North Carolina and Rand Paul of Kentucky.
Tillis is up for election in 2026.
President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social from the White House: “Numerous people have come forward wanting to run in the Primary against ‘Senator Thom’ Tillis. I will be meeting with them over the coming weeks, looking for someone who will properly represent the Great People of North Carolina and, so importantly, the United States of America.”
House and Senate leaders are committed to sending the bill to Trump on the Fourth of July. Trump has been pressuring Senators to send the bill to his desk for signing, including conducting an event Thursday that touted the advantages.
He also posted on Truth Social: “Republicans must remember that they are fighting against a very evil, corrupt and, in many ways, incompetent (Policywise!) group of people, who would rather see our Country “go down in flames” than do the right thing and, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! The Democrats would LOVE to see the Biggest Tax Hike in History (68%!), No Border Spending (Open Borders!), and a weak, underfunded Military, so we wouldn’t be able to do things like we did just one week ago in Iran.”
Senate Democrats plan to slow the process by forcing clerks to spend an estimated 10 to 15 hours reading aloud overnight the entire bill that is nearly 1,000 pages. A debate on the bill is followed by a “vote-a-rama” on amendments.
