Trump agenda blueprint heads to the House after Senate ‘vote-a-rama’ – Washington Examiner
The Senate has made significant progress towards advancing President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda by approving a blueprint that addresses key priorities in taxation, border security, and defense. The vote, which took place after a lengthy “vote-a-rama” session filled wiht Democratic amendments challenging Trump’s policies, saw nearly unanimous support from Republicans, with only two dissenting votes. The approval allows committees to begin drafting actual legislative text.
Notable rejected amendments included those aimed at blocking certain Pentagon dialog practices and preventing tax breaks for the wealthy, indicating a partisan divide over fiscal policies. Additionally, concerns were raised by some Republicans regarding unspecified spending cuts tied to the budget plan, which features a proposed $5 trillion increase in the federal debt ceiling.
The House is now tasked with evaluating the Senate’s blueprint, with ongoing debates about the adequacy of spending cuts highlighted by fiscal conservatives.Speaker mike Johnson hopes to secure approval before the Easter recess, but can only afford a minimal number of dissenting votes from Republicans.
Trump agenda blueprint heads to the House after Senate ‘vote-a-rama’
The Senate took the next step toward passing President Donald Trump’s agenda on Saturday, sending a blueprint that unlocks his tax, border, and defense priorities to the House.
All but two Republicans voted to adopt the blueprint, which allows committees to begin drafting legislative text, but not before the Democrats waged an hourslong voting marathon that kept the Senate in session late into the night.
Across six hours, the chamber voted on a sweeping set of Democratic amendments meant to challenge the early actions of Trump’s second term.
One measure rejected by Republicans would have barred Pentagon officials from using commercial messaging apps to share war plans, a jab at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Signal controversy.
Republicans also defeated several amendments preventing tax breaks for the wealthy, part of a Democratic strategy to paint the GOP as too cozy with billionaires.
Other rejected amendments, all of which were nonbinding, focused on Trump’s possible shuttering of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, his temporary pause on Ukraine aid, and a raft of market-rattling tariffs he unveiled on Wednesday.
Two Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Rand Paul (R-KY), opposed the larger blueprint when the Senate took a final vote after 2 a.m. on Saturday, underscoring the difficult road ahead for GOP leaders if they want to unite their party behind the legislation, to be completed sometime during the late spring or summer.
The budget plan, which includes a $5 trillion increase in the federal debt ceiling, leaves the House and Senate on different pages when it comes to spending offsets. The House instructions would require $2 trillion in cuts, while the Senate only treats that figure as an aspirational goal.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) supported the blueprint based on assurances the White House was committed to deficit reduction. In a speech before the “vote-a-rama,” he cautioned against Republicans’ use of a novel scoring method that treats trillions in tax cuts as cost-free.
“It establishes a dangerous precedent. It might be within the rules to do so, but it doesn’t mean that it is wise to do so,” Cassidy said from the Senate floor. “And to be a conservative is to know that sometimes you don’t open Pandora’s box, even if you can.”
Other Republicans, among them Collins, have reservations about the cuts to Medicaid implicit in the House’s budget instructions. Collins and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) voted for a Democratic amendment preventing a reduction in benefits, while Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) joined them in nearly striking out those instructions altogether.
The conference on Friday night largely supported a separate GOP amendment “strengthening and improving Medicaid for the most vulnerable populations.”
At another point, the Senate rejected language from Paul that would have mostly removed the blueprint’s debt ceiling hike.
WHAT IS A ‘VOTE-A-RAMA,’ THE WASHINGTON MARATHON LOATHED BY SENATORS?
In the House, fiscal hawks have expressed concern over the blueprint given the Senate’s ambiguity on spending cuts, leaving its adoption next week an open question. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) wants the resolution approved before lawmakers depart for the Easter recess, but he can only afford to lose three Republicans on any party-line vote.
For now, the House floor is shut down over an unrelated fight over proxy voting.
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