Slow-moving congressional time management faced a test with President Trump’s July 4 deadline for ‘big, beautiful bill,’ and lawmakers barely made it.
Football and basketball coaches are experts in clock management.
So are lawmakers.
Coaches are adept at either burning or saving just enough time on the clock to execute a play – or prevent the other team from doing so.
Congressional clock management is very different.
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Whatever lawmakers say they will do – it will always take them a profoundly longer period of time in which to do it.
That’s why the temporal politics of passing President Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ overwhelmed everyone who works on Capitol Hill over the past few weeks.
That ranges from the lawmakers themselves to the aides, journalists, Capitol custodians and U.S. Capitol Police officers.
To wit:
Congressional Republicans have churned through variations of frameworks and iterations of the big, beautiful bill since February. But things finally got serious when the House adopted its formal version of the package on May 22, beating the Memorial Day goal by four days.
There was chatter that the Senate would tackle the House’s package the week of June 9. Then that fell to the week of June 15. The idea was that the Senate would process its version of the bill that week and then allow the House to sync up during the week of June 22.
Then those hopes were dashed.
That’s to say nothing of the Senate at least voting to proceed to even start debate at the very end of the week of June 15.
Here’s what really happened. And it underscores just how protracted the process can be on Capitol Hill, especially with a very complicated and controversial piece of legislation.
On Monday, June 23, Republican senators talked about taking a procedural vote to launch debate on the big, beautiful bill as early as Wednesday or Thursday, June 25 or 26. Such a vote would require just 51 yeas. But the bill wasn’t ready. Republicans were still crafting and drafting the bill to comport with Senate budget rules. The GOP also aimed to write the legislation in a fashion to court 51 yeas to crack the procedural hurdle and formally start debate.
Midweek came and the Senate never took a procedural vote. Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., opposed starting debate on a bill that was not complete.
So midweek morphed into the weekend, and when the Senate convened on Saturday, June 28, Fox News was told the chamber would take a procedural vote to begin debate around 4 p.m. ET.
SENATE REPUBLICANS RAM TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ THROUGH KEY TEST VOTE
The vote went off as scheduled. With the bill’s contents deemed insufficient for a vote, the Senate moved to read the bill in full, beginning on Saturday afternoon and running until Sunday, when it was finally put to a vote. After a 14-hour session, the Senate passed the bill, 51-50, with Vice President JD Vance breaking the tie. The extensive reading of the 940-page bill by clerks was a key step, highlighting the logistical challenges of passing such a large piece of legislation and the slow pace at which the Senate operates, particularly under the current majority.
The House’s passage was similarly slow and arduous. After the Senate passed the bill, the House was expected to move on the legislation quickly. However, the process was again marked by delays and procedural challenges. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., made the decision to close the ‘technical correction’ vote and proceed to the actual rule debate, which was followed by a vote on the rule itself. This was followed by extended speaking sessions by both House leaders. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., set a new record with an 8-hour-and-45-minute speech, breaking the previous record set by Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in 2021. Mike Johnson, in contrast, spoke for 23 minutes.
The vote on the bill itself occurred after these speaking sessions and was passed with a 218-214 vote. The bill’s final passage was a testament to the slow and often cumbersome process of legislative deliberation in the U.S. Congress. The event also highlighted the strategic importance of procedural votes, the impact of leadership decisions on the legislative process, and the role of key figures such as vice presidents in breaking ties when needed. The entire process underscored the complexities of passing significant legislation in a system designed for deliberation rather than speed.