Senate Republicans advanced President Donald Trump’s long-awaited ‘big, beautiful bill’ through a pivotal procedural hurdle in a closely contested 51-49 vote, signaling potential progress for the controversial legislation. The vote came after hours of tense negotiations and last-minute revisions aimed at securing enough Republican support. Key provisions, including the preservation of the SALT deduction cap and adjustments to the Medicaid provider tax rate, were altered to satisfy moderate and conservative lawmakers. While the bill’s fate remains uncertain, with several holdouts and a planned amendment period, its passage marks a significant step in Trump’s legislative agenda. The legislation, an amendment to the House GOP’s version of the ‘big, beautiful bill,’ now faces further scrutiny as it moves toward a final vote and potential passage to the president’s desk by July 4.
The procedural vote, which unlocked a marathon 20-hour debate on the bill, was not without drama. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., only allowed for a narrow margin of error, with three votes needed to kill the bill. Nearly every Republican, except for Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., cast their votes in favor. The final vote was a testament to the party’s internal struggles, as moderates like Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., were swayed to support the bill through the procedural hurdle with promises of a $25 billion rural hospital stabilization fund and other concessions.
However, the bill’s survival is still under threat. While the Medicaid provider tax rate was revised to delay its implementation by one year, concerns over the long-term implications of Medicaid reforms and the SALT deduction cap remain unresolved. The SALT deduction’s $40,000 cap will remain in place for five years before reverting to its current $10,000 limit. These compromises, however, have not fully placated all holdouts, including Tillis, who expressed dissatisfaction with the current state of the bill and indicated a potential refusal to support it during the final passage.
The bill’s final approval is now contingent on a planned ‘vote-a-rama,’ where lawmakers will have the opportunity to propose an unlimited number of amendments. This process, expected to extend into the early hours of Monday, will allow conservatives to push for additional changes and potentially undermine the bill’s core provisions. Meanwhile, Democrats are anticipated to use this period to inflict as much legislative pain as possible on Republicans, further complicating the legislation’s path to final approval.
Once the amendment period concludes, the bill will return to the House of Representatives for final passage, with the goal of reaching the President’s desk by July 4. Trump, in an administration policy memo, affirmed his commitment to signing the bill, stating that failure to pass it would constitute the ultimate betrayal of his promises. The outcome of the legislative process remains uncertain, as the bill continues to face opposition from key figures within the party and scrutiny from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.