After an hours-long delay and a last-minute rallying of the troops, Senate Republicans took the first step Thursday evening to advance a new budget blueprint that would unlock the “one big, beautiful bill” envisioned by President Donald Trump.
Senators voted 52-48 to proceed to the budget resolution, which they hope can pass muster in the House after their first attempt failed to entice colleagues across the Capitol. A budget plan adopted by both chambers is necessary to allow Republicans to write and pass a sweeping bill later this year to link an overhaul of the tax code to border, energy and defense policies.
Only one Republican, Sen. Rand Paul, voted against the resolution. All Democrats opposed it.
The vote kicks off up to 50 hours of debate that will culminate in a marathon voting session of symbolic amendments, known as a vote-a-rama, before a final vote on adopting the budget resolution as late as Saturday.
Yet even as Republicans moved forward with the budget resolution amid confidence from leadership, they are still facing some red flags within their conference.
Senate Budget Committee Republicans and Majority Leader John Thune met with Trump on Wednesday at the White House, which appeared to win over some of the deficit hawks. Trump vowed to conservatives on the panel that he would back efforts to cut spending beyond the minimums laid out in the budget resolution — something he subsequently did at a Rose Garden event and in a Truth Social post.
But Republicans are still facing questions from other corners of the conference over the decision to use an accounting tactic, known as current policy baseline, that would make an extension of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts appear to cost nothing. GOP leaders hope to deploy this strategy in the party-line bill they want to pass through reconciliation to enact Trump’s agenda, for which the budget resolution would pave the way.
Thune, Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso and Finance Chair Mike Crapo huddled with a group of senators, including Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, John Curtis and John Cornyn, shortly before Republicans called up the procedural vote. It marked an attempt by leadership to quell anxieties among the lawmakers that letting Senate Budget Chair Lindsey Graham decide the baseline could come back to haunt them if it later ends up running aground of budget rules in the final bill.
Republicans across the conference are also worried about adopting a budget that would allow the House to set its own spending cut targets for committees that could result in cuts to Medicaid benefits.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has been outspoken in his concerns about how Medicaid could fare in the reconciliation process given the House instructions, and told reporters Thursday night he was on the fence about how he would vote on the procedural motion to advance the budget resolution. He called Trump just before heading to the floor, where he ultimately voted yes.
“I had a good talk with the president tonight. We talked for a fair bit, and we talked about the Medicaid issue, which was a big concern to me. … And he said, ‘I want to be crystal clear about this. The House will not cut Medicaid benefits under any circumstance. The Senate will not cut Medicaid benefits under any circumstance, and I will not sign a cut to Medicaid benefits,’” Hawley told reporters. “So that’s good, and I hope our leadership will take that cue.”
There is still widespread disagreement about whether it will be possible to reach the ambitious $880 billion in savings prescribed by the House-adopted budget for the House Energy and Commerce Committee without slashing Medicaid benefits, but Republicans continue to talk about other ways to cut costs within the health safety net program, like identifying waste, fraud and abuse in the system.
Collins and Murkowski also said they were paying close attention to how Medicaid is addressed in a final package.
“I’m concerned about the instruction to the House Committee for $880 billion — the Energy and Commerce Committee in the House, which has jurisdiction over Medicaid, because I don’t see how you can get to that amount without cutting Medicaid benefits,” said Collins.
Murkowski said she has spoken directly to Thune about her worries.
Jennifer Scholtes contributed to this report.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this report misspelled Sen. John Barrasso’s name.