Senate Passes Trump Budget Test Vote as House GOP Struggles to Keep Up

HIGHLIGHTS:

• The Senate moves forward with a key Trump budget agenda, advancing the first of two bills with a 50-47 vote, while House Republicans struggle to keep up.
• Senate Republicans push for a two-pronged reconciliation approach on border security, defense, and tax cuts, while the House favors a single, comprehensive bill for all of Trump’s priorities.
• A 50-hour debate begins in the Senate, with numerous amendments expected, forcing Republicans to take potentially uncomfortable votes.

The Senate moved forward with passing a key agenda item from President Donald Trump, ahead of the House Republicans' attempt to pursue their own version.

On Tuesday night, Republicans pushed a budget resolution through with a 50-47 vote, following its approval by the crucial budget committee the previous week.

"It’s time to act on the decisive mandate the American people gave to President Trump in November. Securing the border, rebuilding our defense, and unleashing American energy. 

That starts this week with passing Chairman [Sen. Lindsey Graham's] budget. Let’s get it done," Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., wrote in a post on X ahead of the vote.

The ongoing fight between the House and Senate regarding how to proceed is made even more intense by the Senate GOP's push for a two-prong strategy for budget reconciliation. 

The two chambers have favored different methods for using this critical reconciliation process to shortcut some of Trump's priorities. Until recently, it was expected that the House would take the lead on most matters.

This process will reduce the Senate's votes required to just 51 from 60, enabling Republicans to push through policies with their majority of 53 votes in the upper house without any help from outside.

The first reconciliation, under Senate Republicans, would relate to Trump's priorities on border security, fossil fuel energy, and national defense; the second bill would extend, later in the year, Trump's tax policies as envisaged in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) since the cuts would expire at the end of 2025.

Some House Republicans have given their support to a reconciliation bill that is single and all-encompassing concerning Trump's agenda, from border security to tax cuts.

However, the lower chamber fell behind, unable to act before the Senate.

"I'm afraid it's a nonstarter over here. And, you know, I've expressed that to him. And there is no animus or daylight between us. We all are trying to get to the same achievable objectives. And there's just, you know, different ideas on how to get there," House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., previously said of the Senate's bill.

Before the Senate's test vote on Tuesday, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., urged Republicans to pass the House bill, "It’s time to act on ALL of the powerful mandates the American people gave to [Trump] in November: Securing the border, opening up American energy to lower costs, keeping tax rates low (including no tax on tips), strengthening our national defense, a two-year extension of the debt ceiling, and passing into law DOGE's identified waste in government."

"All of Trump’s priorities in one big, beautiful bill start moving when we pass [Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington's] budget. Let’s go Make America Great Again!" Scalise added.

The House GOP recently advanced its own comprehensive bill through committee, facing mounting pressure as Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., had already introduced the first of two bills in his committee last week. The Senate Republicans' decision to move ahead of the House came as Trump officials emphasized the urgent need for border funding in Congress.

House Republicans argue that tackling two bills instead of one could jeopardize their chances of passing tax cuts later in the year. With a narrow and sometimes divided majority, they believe a single-bill reconciliation approach would give them a better shot at success.

The Senate budget vote set off a 50-hour clock for debate on the reconciliation measure. A marathon of votes on an unlimited number of amendments is expected to follow during the extended debate. Senators can propose as many amendments as they wish, putting Republicans in the position of having to take numerous potentially difficult votes.