Senate advances Trump's "big, beautiful bill" in narrow vote
Washington — The Senate voted to advance President Trump's "big, beautiful bill" late Saturday night, in a key test for the tax and spending measure ahead of a final vote expected in the coming days.
In a 51 to 49 vote, all but two Republicans voted to advance the centerpiece legislation of Mr. Trump's second-term agenda, following hours of delay as the GOP appeared to iron out last-minute details and support. The vote stayed open for more than three hours as holdouts sought assurances from GOP leaders before supporting moving forward on the measure.
Vice President JD Vance came to Capitol Hill Saturday night in case he would need to cast a tie-breaking vote, which he ultimately did not.
Sens. Thom Tillis and Rand Paul were the only two Republicans to vote against the measure. In a Truth Social post Saturday night as the roll call vote dragged on, Mr. Trump indicated he would work to support primary challenges to Tillis, who is up for reelection in 2026.
"Numerous people have come forward wanting to run in the Primary against 'Senator Thom' Tillis," Mr. Trump wrote. "I will be meeting with them over the coming weeks, looking for someone who will properly represent the Great People of North Carolina and, so importantly, the United States of America."
The vote came after Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said Friday he wasn't certain he had the votes to advance the bill, as the upper chamber awaited decisions on whether a number of provisions complied with the Senate's reconciliation rules, which allow Republicans to pass the bill with a simple majority. Major policy disputes also remained.
Senate Republicans did not release an updated version of their bill until late Friday night, giving senators little time to digest it before taking an initial procedural vote that's necessary to move toward final passage.
Mr. Trump has pressured Congress to send him the sprawling package — which includes tax cuts and funding for his immigration and defense priorities — by the Fourth of July holiday.
In a statement, obtained by CBS News on Saturday, the White House said that a failure to pass the bill would be the "ultimate betrayal."
"The One Big Beautiful Bill Act reflects the shared priorities of both the Congress and the Administration. Therefore, the Congress should immediately pass this bill and send it to the President's desk by July 4, 2025, to show the American people that they are serious about 'promises made, promises kept,'" the statement said. "President Trump is committed to keeping his promises, and failure to pass this bill would be the ultimate betrayal."
In the bill, Republicans proposed slashing funding for Medicaid, which provides health insurance to low-income individuals and people with disabilities, and food assistance benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — or food stamps — to help pay for those priorities.
Over the last week, the Senate parliamentarian determined that some of the most controversial provisions in the package violated a rule that governs the reconciliation process, which requires that the legislation only include provisions that have a direct impact on federal spending. The rulings directed Republicans to either drop those sections from the package or rewrite them.
Meanwhile, in the leadup to the vote, disputes over Medicaid spending cuts, the state and local tax deduction and a planned debt ceiling increase still lingered among Republicans.
In a promising sign for Senate leadership hours ahead of the vote, two Republican senators who expressed opposition to provisions in the bill said they would vote to advance it.
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said she would not vote against the measure advancing, but noted that did not indicate her vote on final passage.
"If the bill is not further changed, I would be leaning against the bill," Collins said Saturday afternoon.
Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, who has criticized the bill's Medicaid cuts, said he will be a "yes" vote on final passage because his state will be receiving more funding for the program.
"With the delay in the provider tax framework that we were able to get and with the changes to the rural hospital fund, Missouri's Medicaid dollars will actually increase over the next four years. So we will get more money — Medicaid funding — over baseline until 2030. Any changes to our provider framework in Missouri will not take place until the next decade," Hawley said Saturday.
"I want to be clear, I'm going to spend the next however long trying to make sure that the cuts that we have successfully delayed never take place," Hawley said. "I think that this effort to cut Medicaid funding is a mistake. We've been able for Missouri to delay it. As I said, we're actually going to get more money in the next four years. But that's not true of all the states."
However, as a possible vote drew closer Saturday, a handful of Senate Republicans remained publicly opposed. Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, said he would vote against advancing the bill and would be a "no" on final passage. And Paul of Kentucky and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin had been vocal about their opposition in recent weeks, citing concern about its impact on the national deficit.
Paul was among a handful of Republican senators who golfed with the president Saturday, GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said. Asked whether Paul could be convinced to support the bill, Graham said, "There's some things we might be able to do if we need to, but I don't think he'll vote for final passage."
With a 53-seat majority, Senate Republicans could only afford to lose three votes with all Democrats voting against the legislation.
House Republicans narrowly passed a version of the bill in May. and the lower chamber is expected to be called back to Washington to vote on the Senate version if it survives the upper chamber in the coming days. But House Republicans have warned that any major changes made by the Senate put its ability to make it through the House again at risk.
Thune said on the Senate floor Saturday afternoon that "53 members will never agree on every detail of legislation." But he urged that Republicans are "united in our commitment to what we're doing in this bill."
"It's time to get this legislation across the finish line," Thune added.
But Democrats, without the ability to block the bill from passing, pledged to drag out the process. According to a source, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York told Senate Democrats to prepare for a full reading of the legislation on the floor, which would delay a vote on final passage by hours.
The minority leader announced the move immediately following Saturday's vote.
"Senate Republicans are scrambling to pass a radical bill released to the public in the dead of night, praying the American people don't realize what's in it," Schumer said. "If Senate Republicans won't tell the American people what's in this bill, then Democrats are going to force this chamber to read it from start to finish."
Paulina Smolinski and Alan He contributed to this report.
Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter at CBSNews.com, based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation.
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