{"id":12354,"date":"2025-06-30T19:46:54","date_gmt":"2025-06-30T19:46:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/?p=12354"},"modified":"2025-06-30T19:46:56","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T19:46:56","slug":"senate-races-toward-final-vote-on-trumps-megabill-after-weekend-of-debate-drama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/?p=12354","title":{"rendered":"Senate races toward final vote on Trump’s megabill after weekend of debate, drama"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Senate is plowing ahead toward a final vote on President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and immigration bill, as Republicans rush to get it across the finish line by July 4.<\/p>\n

The self-imposed deadline by Trump meant a rare weekend session for lawmakers, one filled with partisan drama and some GOP infighting on the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”<\/p>\n

On Monday morning, senators began a “vote-a-rama” — a series of votes on proposed amendments to the megabill.<\/p>\n

There is no limit to the number of amendments lawmakers can seek. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the chamber’s top Democrat, promised his party would bring amendment after amendment during the marathon session. Democrats forced a reading of the 940-page bill over the weekend, which took nearly 16 hours.<\/p>\n

“Every senator will soon have an opportunity to reject this nonsense and vote for common-sense budgeting. Americans will be watching,” Schumer said on Monday as he slammed Trump’s bill as a break for billionaires that will hurt working-class families.<\/p>\n

Democrats used the early hours of the vote-a-rama to force votes highlighting cuts the megabill makes to Medicaid, SNAP and rural hospitals and to hammer Republicans on the tax cuts they say the measure gives to the wealthiest Americans.<\/p>\n

The Senate voted down 47-53 an amendment led by Schumer that he said would have undone “the travesty that is at the core of the Republican bill.”<\/p>\n

“Their bill the so-called big beautiful bill, which is really a big, ugly betrayal, cuts taxes for billionaires by taking away health care for millions of people. So what my amendment simply says, if people’s health care costs go up, the billionaire tax cuts vanish,” Schumer said.<\/p>\n

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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer arrives as Republicans begin a final push to advance President Donald Trump’s tax breaks and spending cuts package, at the Capitol in Washington, June 30, 2025.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

J. Scott Applewhite\/AP<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Democratic Sen. Ed Markey’s effort to strip provisions that would negatively impact rural hospitals due to cuts to Medicaid also failed, but did receive the support of two Republicans: Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins<\/p>\n

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the top Democrat on the Senate Agriculture committee, argued that the SNAP provisions in the bill creates “chaos for state budgets and hardship for families” and violate budget rules. Her motion related to SNAP was waived by Republicans.<\/p>\n

Senate Majority Leader John Thune defended the bill as delivering Trump’s campaign promises to eliminate tax on tips and overtime pay while boosting spending for defense and border security.<\/p>\n

“It’s been a long debate,” Thune said in his own floor remarks ahead of the votes on amendments. “I know people are weary. But at the end of the day, we want to get this done so that this country is safer and stronger and more prosperous, not only for today but for future generations of Americans.”<\/p>\n

So far, Republicans have defeated all Democratic efforts to modify or reconsider the bill — but the session could go on until late Monday night.<\/p>\n

Senate Finance Committee chairman Mike Crapo, a Republican, argued against several of the Democratic amendments.<\/p>\n

“The reality is, the reforms we are putting into place are to try to reign in control of wasteful and fraudulent and abusive spending that actually diverts resources away from the people who these programs really deserve to receive,” Crapo said of Schumer’s amendment on Medicaid.<\/p>\n

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune speaks to reporters as he returns to his office from the Senate Chamber at the U.S. Capitol, June 30, 2025 in Washington.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Andrew Harnik\/Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The vote-a-rama is the last hurdle before a vote on final passage of the bill in the Senate.<\/p>\n

There is little room for error in the Republican-controlled chamber. A procedural vote on Saturday night to open debate on the bill narrowly passed in a 51-49 vote after two Republican defections.<\/p>\n

GOS Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Thom Tillis of North Carolina voted against advancing the bill. Tillis railed against the changes to Medicaid in the bill, saying it would hurt his constituents and would represent a betrayal of Trump’s promise not to touch the entitlement program<\/a> upon which millions of people rely for health care coverage.<\/p>\n

Tillis’ opposition drew Trump’s ire, with the president threatening to support a primary challenger to the two-term senator. Tillis then suddenly announced he would not seek reelection, saying later he texted Trump on Saturday night suggesting he “probably needed to start looking for a replacement.”<\/p>\n

“I respect President Trump. I support the majority of his agenda, but I don’t bow to anybody. When the people of North Carolina are at risk. And this bill puts them at risk,” Tillis said.<\/p>\n

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Sen. Thom Tillis speaks to reporters as Republican lawmakers work to pass President Donald Trump’s sweeping spending and tax bill, in Washington, June 30, 2025.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Elizabeth Frantz\/Reuters<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

What’s next for OBBB in the House?<\/h2>\n

If the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” passes in the Senate, it will have to go back to the House for members to consider the changes made to the bill.<\/p>\n

House Republican leaders say Wednesday is the earliest chance for a megabill vote.<\/p>\n

“Members are advised that votes are now expected in the House as early as 9 a.m. Wednesday, July 2. Please stay tuned to future updates for additional information regarding this week’s schedule,” a notice from Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s office said.<\/p>\n

Republican leaders have told members they will receive 48 hours notice before a vote is called and will have 72 hours to review the bill text.<\/p>\n

The House passed the Trump megabill by just one vote back in May. The Senate version of the bill will face an uphill battle in the House, given the GOP’s razor-thin majority.<\/p>\n

California moderate Republican Rep. David Valadao said he will vote no given the Medicaid changes in the Senate bill. Several conservatives, including Reps. Chip Roy of Texas, Josh Breechen of Oklahoma and Eric Burlison of Missouri have also expressed opposition to the Senate’s version of the bill.<\/p>\n

House Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republican leaders worked through the weekend to lock down the votes even as several lawmakers have expressed opposition to the Senate’s version, which is still not finalized. Johnson can only afford to lose three defections if all members are voting and present.<\/p>\n

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Trump was working “hand in hand” with Johnson and Thune, and that the two leaders had met with him at the White House earlier Monday.<\/p>\n

“Republicans need to stay tough and unified during the home stretch, and we are counting on them to get the job done,” Leavitt said during the White House briefing.<\/p>\n

But sources familiar with the matter told ABC News Thune and Johnson have not met with President Trump at the White House, and as of now the two leaders have no current plans to meet with the president on Monday afternoon as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” progresses in the Senate.<\/p>\n

A spokesman for Thune said he is preoccupied as the Senate moves through amendments to the megabill.<\/p>\n

“Teams are obviously in close contact\/coordination, as always, but we’re continuing to move through vote-a-rama in the Senate as we work to move this bill one step closer to the president’s desk,” the spokesman said in a post on X.<\/p>\n

Speaker Johnson is in Washington working through House members’ concerns as the Senate works through the bill, including several provisions that could spell problems later in the week if the bill is sent back to the House.<\/p>\n

ABC News’ John Parkinson contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Senate is plowing ahead toward a final vote on President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and immigration bill, as Republicans rush to get it across the finish line by July 4. The self-imposed deadline by Trump meant a rare weekend session for lawmakers, one filled with partisan drama and some GOP infighting on the “One […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12355,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12354"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12356,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12354\/revisions\/12356"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}