Senate Republicans are plowing ahead with their efforts to advance the first stage of its two-part budget package to pay for President Donald Trump’s agenda despite Trump throwing his weight behind the House’s more comprehensive one-bill plan.
In a post on Truth Social on Wednesday, Trump endorsed the House’s budget bill, which bolsters funding for the border and national security while simultaneously extending the tax cuts implemented during Trump’s first term and slashing trillions in funding for a variety of programs.
“The House Resolution implements my FULL America First Agenda, EVERYTHING, not just parts of it!” Trump posted.
He reiterated his belief that there ought to be “ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL” that comprehensively handles many of his campaign promises in one fell swoop.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune accompanied by Sen. John Barrasso listens to a reporter’s question following a weekly Republican policy luncheon at the Capitol Feb. 19, 2025 in Washington.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson has backed this strategy from the start. He believes the House bill, which also includes a hike to the federal debt limit that many of his members typically oppose, is robust enough to cull support from the members of his widely divided conference. This is essential because Johnson’s razor-thin majority allows for almost no GOP defections.
Senate Republicans say they favor that plan, but they’re skeptical that it can get done in the timely fashion necessary to deliver Trump early-term wins on border security.
“I prefer what you’re doing to what we are doing, but we’ve got to get it done soon,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, the Budget Committee chairman. “Nothing would please me more than Speaker Johnson being able to put together the bill that President Trump wants. I want that to happen. But I cannot sit on the sidelines and not have a Plan B.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson holds a press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Feb. 11, 2025.
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Graham’s move to advance the Senate bill escalates an ongoing battle between Republicans in the two chambers of Congress who are vying for Trump’s approval in the early stages of his administration. Johnson has already called the Senate package a “non-starter” and has signaled that even if the Senate passes its budget plan, the House will hold off on bringing it up in favor of its own bill.
The Senate plan aims to deliver Trump wins on the border by allocating more funds for his immigration policy. It also beefs up defense spending and makes modifications to energy policy. But unlike the House bill, the Senate plan would take up the debate about extending the Trump tax cuts later and hiking the debt limit to a separate bill to be taken up later this year.
Senators believe this strategy allows them to strike quickly to address “immediate needs” while buying time for a more complex debate about tax policy.
Majority Leader John Thune, in remarks on the Senate floor Thursday morning, said Senate Republicans are committed to making Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent, but said there is still “substantial work left to do to arrive at a bicameral agreement” on the issue.
“When the President’s ‘Border Czar’ was here last week, he emphasized that the administration cannot sustain its effort to deport criminals here illegally without additional funding and the last thing we want is to delay other parts of the president’s agenda like border security as we do the work needed to arrive at a tax agreement that can pass both houses of Congress,” Thune said. “That’s what the Senate is moving forward on a two-part legislative plan to accomplish our and the president’s top priorities.”
Senator Lindsey Graham speaks to the media, on the day of a Senate Republicans’ weekly policy lunch on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 19, 2025.
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The need to deliver border funding urgently requires swifter action than debate on a tax bill will allow, Republican Whip John Barrasso said.
“President Trump’s actions are working. They are working so well that the Trump administration says it is running out of money for deportations. ‘Border Czar’ Tom Homan told us that. [Homeland Security] Secretary [Kristi] Noem told us that. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told us that. Attorney General Pam Bondi told us that. Senate Republicans will act quickly to get the administration the resources they requested and need,” Barrasso said.
Despite Trump’s endorsement of the House plan on Wednesday, senators left a closed-door lunch with Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday committed to advancing their proposal.
So Thursday evening, senators will participate in a blitz of 10-minute amendment votes called a “Vote-a-rama.” This process, which is expected to last through the night, is just the first step in unlocking a fast track budget tool called reconciliation, which allows the Senate to bypass the normal 60-vote threshold to advance tax and budget related provisions.
Senate Democrats are committed to opposing the reconciliation bill.
“I think most of us here get that no matter who the president is, our constituents expect us to work for them,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., during a floor speech. “They expect us to fight for them, and they expect us to do the hard work of passing laws to make their lives better. People don’t send us here to make their lives worse, but that’s exactly what Trump and [Elon] Musk are doing — They are looking at our most pressing problems and making them worse, and this budget proposal will only add fuel to that fire right now.”
But Democrats can only stall the bill. If all Republicans hang together, there’s nothing Democrats can do to block it.
But until House and Senate Republicans get on the same page, tonight’s vote-a-rama could prove largely fruitless.