Senators stayed in Washington through the night for a marathon series of votes as Republicans moved to pass a $340 billion budget plan paving the way for part of President Trump’s agenda.
The final vote on the budget resolution came down 52 to 48 in the early hours of the morning.
But the effort is only the backup plan as House Republicans struggle to put together Plan A that satisfies all the president’s desires in one ‘big beautiful plan.’
The Senate framework includes $175 billion to implement Trump’s immigration agenda. It also includes another $150 billion for the military and $20 billion to modernize the Coast Guard.
What it does not include is an extension of provisions in Trump’s 2017 tax law set to expire at the end of the year as the Senate pushed forward with a two bill approach.
Some critics of the approach suggested the entire Senate GOP effort to pass its own budget resolution is a waste of time as House Republicans attempt to negotiate their own deal for one massive bill.
Senate Republican leaders have even acknowledged their deal is the Plan B. But they moved forward with the two bill approach, arguing immigration and national security priorities cannot wait.
Earlier this week, the president threw his weight behind the House approach even as Senate Republicans pushed forward.
Senate Republicans passed their budget resolution after marathon voting session overnight Thursday. The final vote on the framework was 52-48
Thursday night and into the wee hours of Friday morning, senators remained on the hill for a so-called ‘vote-a-rama’ where lawmakers were able to propose unlimited amendments for the budget measure and vote on them.
The final vote to pass the blueprint came just before 4am.
Every Republican with the exception of Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) voted for the resolution. Paul joined all 47 Democratic senators who voted against it.
‘This budget resolution is a complete game changer when it comes to securing our border and making our military more lethal,’ said Senator Lindsey Graham, chair of the Senate Budget Committee, after its passage.
‘It will allow President Trump to fulfill the promises he made to the American people — a very big deal,’ he added.
Graham noted that the framework directs Senate committees to find spending cuts to ‘fully pay for’ the immigration and military spending.
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) arriving for the ‘vote-a-rama’ overnight Thursday
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) arriving for the marathon voting session in the Senate as Republicans in the chamber pushed forward with their two-bill approach to tackle Trump’s agenda
The blueprint includes border security provisions to build the wall and upgrade technology, boost immigration officials such as ICE officers, border patrol agents, attorneys and judges and funds for state and local enforcement.
Other components address military readiness, building up U.S. defenses and growing the Navy.
Republicans blasted Democrats for attempting to block the resolution accusing them of being against border security, but Democrats shot back.
They accused Republicans of wanting to give tax cuts to billionaires and used the overnight debate to introduce a series of amendments in an attempt to block the wealthiest Americans from receiving tax breaks, but their efforts were rejected by the GOP majority.
Tax provisions would be included in the second bill if Republicans move forward with the Senate GOP’s two-bill approach.
Paul, as the lone Republican to vote against the budget resolution, offered up his own amendment to cut spending by at least $1.5 trillion.
House Speaker Mike Johnson speaking at CPAC on February 20. House Republicans hope to put their budget framework to a vote as early as next week, but GOP members have clashed over what spending to cut
House Republicans are hoping to put their own plan to a vote as early as next week.
But they have struggled to come up with $2 trillion in spending cuts as conservative members face off with more moderate members over what to put on the chopping block. The razor-thin majority gives them almost no room for error.
Only after the budget resolutions are adopted are lawmakers required to write the legislation that details the specific policies and how they will meet their outlined goals.
But some Republican members are already raising concerns over health programs such as Medicaid or food stamp benefits being slashed to meet targets.
