Senate Republicans are facing a marathon session on Monday in order to pass President Trump’s ambitious tax and spending package and meet the White House’s end-of-week deadline to OK its top domestic agenda item.
Senators will convene on Monday morning for a lengthy “vote-a-rama,” during which lawmakers can offer an unlimited number of amendments that are related to the mammoth proposal.
The hours-long voting session was expected to start overnight, but GOP leaders opted to push it until 9 a.m. after a grueling weekend, which included Democrats forcing the Senate clerks to read all 940 pages of the bill. That process took nearly 16 hours to complete, and was followed by debate on the bill itself that lasted into Monday morning before the chamber finally recessed.
“The debate and eventually voting on the ‘big, beautiful bill.’ has begun. Hallelujah. It’s taken a while for us to get there,” Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said on the floor on Sunday afternoon. “I’ve worked a long time with my colleagues to get to where we are today.”
As Graham referenced, Republicans have been working on the bill — which extends much of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and includes the elimination of taxes for some tipped and overtime income — dating back to even before their 2024 electoral victory.
And they still have to clear some hurdles in order to finish the job.
Republicans can lose a maximum of three votes, with two of those already spoken for. Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) are both expected to vote “no” over their opposition to proposed Medicaid cuts and the inclusion of a $5 trillion debt ceiling hike, respectively. Both voted against advancing the bill past a procedural hurdle Saturday night.
This has left GOP leaders little room for error, forcing them to quell potential opposition from a key group of conservatives who are seeking to further reduce Medicaid spending.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and some of his allies on Sunday unveiled an amendment to be introduced as part of the vote-a-rama that would prevent new enrollees in Medicaid expansion states from receiving the 9-to-1 enhanced Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) if they are able-bodied and don’t have dependent children.
The change, which Scott, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) pushed for, would shrink Medicaid spending by more than $300 billion.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is also supporting the measure as part of a deal he struck with the conservatives to win their votes on Saturday’s motion to proceed.
“I think it’s going to pass. If you think about it, it’s good policy. It gives the states the opportunity to get ready. Nobody gets kicked off,” Scott told The Hill.
Whether the three conservatives are willing to vote against the bill if their amendment is not adopted remains unclear.
When asked if he would do just that, Johnson declined to say.
“I don’t get flushed out,” he told The Hill. “We’re trying to apply as much pressure as possible to get this amendment passed.”
Members, however, widely expect them to vote for the tax cut proposal even if the amendment goes down as they believe it will.
“I think they’ll vote ‘yes’ either way,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said.
A bigger question is whether Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) will back the bill on final passage.
Both voted to advance the measure Saturday, but haven’t said how they intend to vote on the bill itself.
Republicans view Murkowski as the more likely of the two to vote with the party after concessions by leadership in recent days.
The Alaska moderate aired concerns throughout the past month over the proposed cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). However, she nabbed key wins as language was revised to make her home state eligible for waivers from new SNAP work requirements and add a rural hospital fund to the tune of $25 billion.
Collins, meanwhile, pointedly told reporters that her vote on Saturday didn’t mean anything regarding how she would vote on final passage.
“That’s going to depend on whether the bill is substantially changed,” she said at the time. “There are some very good changes that have been made in the latest version but I want to see further changes and I will be filing a number of amendments.”
Among those she plans to offer is one aimed at doubling the rural hospital fund from $25 billion to $50 billion. She previously suggested the fund should be in the neighborhood of $100 billion.
The Maine senator is also facing unique political issues as she is the lone GOP member up for reelection in a Democratic-leaning state next year.
With that in mind, Democrats will try to put her and others in a tough spot with dozens of amendment votes centered on the proposed Medicaid cuts, the bill’s impact on rural hospitals and tax cuts for wealthy Americans.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) will offer the first amendment on Monday morning on “no increase in costs for working families and small business to pay for tax cuts for billionaires.”
“If Republicans go down that road, we will continue to make sure today, tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, that the American people know exactly what happened here,” Schumer said in his floor remarks.
“I assure my Republican colleagues that this vote will not be forgotten,” he added.
Alexander Bolton contributed.
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