After a 10-hour, all night “vote-o-rama” that concluded around 4am today, the Senate passed a $340 billion budget resolution by a vote of 52-48 with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) being the only Republican voting no. This budget resolution allows the Senate to proceed with a reconciliation bill that Democrats cannot filibuster. The budget resolution provides $175 billion for President Trump’s border security and immigration enforcement efforts, as well as funding for President Trump’s defense and energy priorities. The Senate budget only sets the amount that can be spent on these priorities and does not direct exactly how the money will be spent. Relevant Senate Committees will now develop the details on how the funds will be spent, which will be cobbled together into a reconciliation bill. This will be the first measure of the Senate’s two-bill approach to enacting the President’s legislative priorities through the reconciliation process. Senate Republicans are also planning a second reconciliation bill later this year to address the renewal of the 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act, as well as other tax cut promises President Trump made during his campaign.
When the House returns next week, GOP lawmakers will try to advance their budget resolution enabling the “one big, beautiful bill” approach to reconciliation favored by President Trump that would include all of his priorities, as well as a debt limit increase, in a single piece of legislation. The House GOP Budget calls for $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and $2 trillion in spending cuts, with the committee that oversees healthcare programs charged with finding $900 billion in cuts. But House GOP leaders face an uphill battle because, as of today, three House Republican moderates—Reps. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Don Bacon (R-NE), and David Valadao (R-CA)—said they do not support the budget resolution because it cuts too much from Medicaid. House Republicans in the Congressional Hispanic Conference also appear unwilling to support the House budget resolution in its current form after raising concerns with GOP leadership on Thursday over the measure’s proposed $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, objecting not only to cuts to Medicaid, but also to Pell Grants and other education assistance programs, and to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. On Tuesday, Democrats’ House Majority PAC issued a memorandum detailing its strategy to use the House GOP’s planned Medicaid cuts to retake the House majority in 2026. The House Ways and Means Committee is also seriously considering limiting the corporate state and local tax (SALT) deduction to offset the cost of the reconciliation bill. Companies currently can deduct an unlimited amount of state income, property, and sales taxes from their federal tax bill.