The Senate passed a massive bill framework that promotes President Donald Trump's agenda after a series of amendments for several hours, when Democrats tried to record Republicans on issues such as the Tariffs and the Office of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
It was passed mainly along the party line with 51-48 votes on Saturday around 2:30am. Senator Susan Collins and R-Ky of R-Maine. Rand Paul of the group was the only Republican to join Democrats in opposing the measure.
The revised framework will increase debt caps up to $5 trillion within the settlement process, robbing Senate Democrats of future leverage. It will also make Trump's 2017 tax cuts permanent, permanent, as determined by Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (Rs.C.).
Senator Dem is trying to hijack the major Trump budget process on the tariff agenda
At the end of the Marathon Voting Series in the Senate, an revised version of the House Past Lamp budget was voted. (Reuters)
The scoring tool essentially means that the cost of making Trump's tax cuts permanent will be beaten for $0 because it extends its current policy, rather than counting it as a new dollar added to the federal deficit.
Some conservatives have shown that they are wary of using that method.
R-La. Senator Bill Cassidy said on the Senator's floor before the voting series, “I am confident there is a commitment or other way to pay for the final settlement bill.”
“Now, I don't think it's better to use current policies as a baseline. It's never been done in a setting like this before. I think it's establishing a dangerous precedent. It's not wise to do so,” he said.
Some home conservatives have gone so far as to call it a “gimmick.”
However, GOP Senate leaders have made it clear that they are at the Rockstep behind the framework.
“This resolution is the first step towards the final bill to make tax exemptions implemented in 2017 permanent and provide transformative investments in border, national and energy security. Everything will involve massive savings measures and common sense reforms for the government.”
Senate Majority Whip John Baraso, R-Wyo. “The American people have given us mission and mandate: safe boundaries, affordable energy, peace through strength, and of course, efficient and effective government.
Republicans will preempt Trump's budget and set up a marathon Senate vote
The Senate voted late Friday night as many amendments were proposed and voted before the final budget bill. (AP Photo/j. Scott Apple White)
Budget adjustments will lower the Senate voting threshold from 60 to 51. This allows Republicans to approve certain priorities without Democrat support.
Thus, the Republican Trial Ecta in Washington sees settlement as an important tool for providing Trump's agenda items.
The Senate's Friday night “Voting – Lama” was sparked by the Chamber of Commerce, agreeing to a motion Thursday night to move on to amend the budget resolution. Almost a day of debate continued before the voting series began.
During this type of voting series, both parties can introduce an unlimited number of amendments, many of which can get floor votes.
No amendments were accepted in the approximately six-hour voting series.
However, some notable measures include I-Vt. An amendment by Senator Bernie Sanders to raise the federal minimum wage to $17 over five years, and an amendment to DN.Y. by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has prevented the BIPARTISAN amendment, which has prevented the Bipartisan amendment, limiting many of Trump's tariffs.
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As Republicans want to get the bill on the president's desk, Senate “Rama's Voting” Friday deals with budget bills passed by the House. (Fox News Digital/Trump-Vance Transition Team)
“Tonight, Senate Democrats gave Senate Republicans the opportunity to hit the killing switch of Donald Trump's tariffs on Doge on attacks on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid,” Schumer said after the vote. “And on each occasion, the Republicans refused.”
“Tonight, the Senate took one small step towards a settlement, making tax cuts permanent, securing borders, providing much needed help to the military, and ultimately reducing wasteful Washington spending,” Graham said in a statement on the X after the vote.
The budget addresses the Trump administration's border funding and extends the Hallmark tax cuts passed by Trump in 2017.
Initially, there was a severe discrepancy between House Republicans and the Senate about how to organize budget settlement resolutions. House GOP leaders preferred one bill that included both borders and taxes, but the people in the Senate wanted to have two separate resolutions.
House Republicans passed a framework that is very similar to the current Senate version last month.
However, it is not yet clear that conservatives in the House will accept the Senate plan despite similarities to the Senate framework.
Republicans aren't necessarily on the same page yet on budget settlements. (Reuters)
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The Republican majority on the House Budget Committee wrote to X just before the Senate began its voting series.
After the framework coincides with passing through the House and Senate, relevant Congressional Committees begin filling out it with changes in policy and spending under their jurisdiction.
Earlier this week, Trump expressed his support for the Senate framework, saying in an unrelated event, “If we do this, it would be the most incredible bill ever passed in Congress' history.”
