Senate Republicans scored a win over their House counterparts in the early morning hours of Friday, officially passing their preferred budget resolution to tackle some of President Trump’s priorities, such as securing the southern border.
After hours of back-to-back voting on Democratic amendments, the bill to fund border security, energy and defense finally got its vote on the chamber floor.
“[T]his particular budget resolution… addresses the president’s priority, top priority, which is securing the border and implementing and putting in place his immigration policies, rebuilding our military, and creating energy dominance for this country,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters on Wednesday, previewing the eventual vote.
The leader and Republicans in the upper chamber started to move forward with the all-important budget reconciliation process earlier this month, pushing their preferred plan through a key committee and clearing a procedural hurdle.
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The move came despite House Republicans being expected to take the lead on passing a budget bill first. Thune and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., also pressed on even after Trump came out in support of the House’s proposal, endorsing it earlier this week on Truth Social.
The decision to move forward with the Senate’s alternative budget plan, which is two-pronged as opposed to the House’s effort to pass one large bill, was blessed by Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday, a source told Fox News Digital.
Trump himself did not seem bothered by their effort either, posting on Truth Social, “Thank you to Majority Leader John Thune, and the Republican Senate, for working so hard on funding the Trump Border Agenda. We are setting records, the likes of which have never been seen before, on stopping criminal illegals aliens from entering our Country. Put simply, we are delivering for the American People, far faster and, more successfully, than anyone thought possible. Your work on funding this effort is greatly appreciated!”
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The Senate’s procedural vote earlier in the week triggered a 50-hour debate clock that ended on Thursday night. Then, a marathon of votes, known as a “Vote-a-Rama,” began.
Senators were able to introduce an unlimited number of amendments, of which many received floor votes. The process forced Republicans to take many potentially uncomfortable votes teed up by their Democratic counterparts.
“Tonight, one amendment at a time, Democrats exposed Republicans’ true colors here on the Senate floor. For the first time this year, Senate Republicans were forced to go on record and defend their plans to cut taxes for Donald Trump’s billionaire friends. What happened tonight was only the beginning. This debate is going to go on for weeks and maybe months. Democrats will be ready to come back and do this over and over again, because Americans deserve to know the truth,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement following the budget resolution’s passage.
“Again and again and again, Republicans sent a clear and consistent message from the Senate floor: under their agenda, billionaires win, and American families lose. If Republicans continue with this reckless plan to help their billionaire buddies at the expense of American families, Democrats will make sure the American people know the truth at every opportunity,” the Democratic leader continued.
In the Senate Republicans’ budget plan, the first reconciliation bill includes Trump’s priorities for border security, fossil fuel energy and national defense. The second bill, to be drawn up later in the year, would focus on extending Trump’s tax policies from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). The cuts begin to expire at the end of 2025.
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By lowering the threshold for Senate passage from 60 votes to 51 out of 100, reconciliation allows the party in power to skirt its opposition to advance its agenda – provided the items included relate to budgetary and other fiscal matters. The House of Representatives already has a simple majority threshold.
The process is crucial for Republicans, who have a trifecta in Washington, to get key Trump goals accomplished.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has claimed that the Senate’s first budget bill, along with its two-pronged approach, would be dead on arrival in the lower chamber. He has remained committed to including tax cuts in the bill with border security and other priorities.
The House has managed to move their version through the appropriate committee, but a floor vote has yet to be scheduled.
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