The Senate will hold a “vote-a-rama” on Thursday after Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) brought a $340 billion budget resolution to the floor.

Senate Democrats will be unable to stop the measure from being adopted if nearly all Republicans stick together, thanks to a legislative process called reconciliation that bypasses the filibuster. On Tuesday, just one GOP senator, Rand Paul (R-KY), opposed a procedural vote on the resolution.

But a quirk of Senate rules means Republicans will first have to overcome a marathon voting session, during which each side is allowed to offer an unlimited number of amendments.

President Donald Trump issued a statement Wednesday morning opposing the Senate budget plan, which leaves out tax reform. Instead, he wants the Senate to follow the House’s lead and sweep all priorities into a single bill.

But Thune still intends to move forward with the Senate resolution, viewed as a Plan B in case the House, controlled by a one-vote GOP majority, struggles to adopt its competing framework.

“I think he’s made it clear for a long time that he would prefer ‘one, big beautiful bill,’ and we’re fine with that, too,” Thune said of Trump on Wednesday, “but we believe that the president also likes optionality.”

The vote-a-rama is a rare chance for the minority party, in this case, the Democrats, to bring legislation to the floor. It’s also one of the Senate’s most exhausting traditions, forcing members to sit in the chamber indefinitely to cast vote after vote.

In past reconciliation fights, the number of votes has sometimes eclipsed 40, a test of will for a chamber whose median age is 65. In 2022, it took more than 15 hours and an all-nighter to complete. 

“I’m not looking forward to it, but I think we need to do it,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), who’s been through nine budget vote-a-ramas since arriving in the Senate in 2011.

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) called the process “all-night-long sleep deprivation for chubby, upper-middle-aged, balding men.”

“I think it’s time to negotiate with our Democratic friends on a more sane, humane process,” he said with a heavy sigh. “There’s got to be better ways.”

How the process works

Senators will actually have two vote-a-ramas to navigate as Republicans move to pass their border and defense bill.

The first is tied to the budget resolution under consideration now, a blueprint that simply directs committees to draft legislation at certain spending levels. Later, the Senate will vote on actual legislative text that has the force of law.

Thune jump-started the process on Tuesday evening, scheduling a “motion to proceed” to the budget resolution that advanced 50-47.

The Senate must now finish 50 hours of debate before holding the vote-a-rama, though some of that time, evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, can be yielded back.

The marathon voting session is slated to begin sometime on Thursday, with a final vote taking place after the Senate exhausts all amendment votes.

How those votes are structured is up to leadership, but with past reconciliation measures, the Senate rolls them out in tranches with the goal of finishing each vote in 15 minutes or less.

Senators are encouraged to stay in or near the chamber for the duration of the vote-a-rama to expedite the process. Under normal circumstances, it can take 30 minutes to an hour for the Senate to complete a vote.

Democrats preview vote-a-rama strategy 

Democrats plan to make opposition to Trump the centerpiece of their strategy, with several amendments to Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency offered up in a Budget Committee hearing last week.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) proposed an audit of DOGE as Democrats raise privacy concerns over the sweeping access Musk, the billionaire owner of Tesla and SpaceX, has been granted to government systems.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) moved to deny funding to Trump if he faces litigation over the Constitution’s take care clause, which requires that the law be “faithfully executed.”

Trump is attempting to shutter multiple federal agencies that require an act of Congress to disband, leading Democrats to insist he is forcing a constitutional crisis.

In terms of the legislation itself, Democrats will highlight the cuts to Medicaid Republicans are considering in the House, proposing multiple amendments last week that prevent changes to the entitlement, as well as GOP plans to renew Trump’s 2017 tax cuts.

“We’ll see a lot of amendments that address the attacks on programs that support families,” said Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), the top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee.

“A lot of amendments that oppose massive tax giveaways to the richest Americans, and I think you’ll see amendments that address the fact that although Republicans campaign on fiscal responsibility, they always end up running up the deficits and the debt,” he added.

In total, the amendments amount to a messaging blitz for Democrats as they lean into economic populism following their election loss in November.

The exercise has limited impact in practical terms, however, since the budget resolution does not become law, with the amendments considered nonbinding.

They must also be germane to be adopted, meaning they fall under the committees of jurisdiction as the Senate crafts its bill. In addition to the border and defense, the budget resolution also deals with energy reform.

Less than a quarter of the Senate sits on the Budget Committee, so senators outside of that panel will want to introduce amendments as part of the vote-a-rama. Blumenthal told the Washington Examiner he wants to prevent DOGE from laying off workers at the Department of Veteran Affairs.

Nearly all amendments are expected to come from the Democrats, though the process is open to senators of both parties. 

Senators brace for marathon fatigue

Newer members of the Senate are approaching the vote-a-rama with good humor. Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT), who arrived in 2023, told the Washington Examiner he’s been “working out” to prepare.

“I’ll ask Elizabeth Warren how she does it. If I can keep up with her, I’ll be successful,” Welch said.

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In the past, senators have stocked up with snacks, energy drinks, and sometimes liquor to make it through the slog of votes. Naps beforehand are also part of their preparations.

Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-MT), elected in November at age 38, didn’t blink when asked if he was ready for a vote-a-rama that could stretch 16 hours.

“Sure, let’s get s*** done. That’s my motto,” he said.

In total, the Senate has undertaken 63 vote-a-ramas since 1977, with most relating to the reconciliation process.