By LISA MASCARO, KEVIN FREKING and JOEY CAPPELLETTI
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hours before a tumultuous nearing-midnight vote on President Donald Trump’s package of tax breaks, spending cuts and increased deportation money, a Republican senator stood on the chamber floor and implored the plan’s critics, “Read the bill.”
After the dramatic 51-49 roll call late Saturday, Senate Democrats did exactly that.
Unable to stop the march toward passage of the 940-page bill by Trump’s Fourth of July deadline, the minority party in Congress is using the tools at its disposal to delay and drag out the process.
“If Senate Republicans won’t tell the American people what’s in this bill, then Democrats are going to force this chamber to read it from start to finish,” said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.
By Sunday mid-afternoon some 16 hours later, the clerk’s reading of the nearly foot-high bill was done.
And within moments the Senate launched debate. But it’s still going to be a while, at least 10 hours of speeches stretching late into the night. The slow-walking tactic points to a difficult days ahead.
“It’s taken a while to get here,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the Budget Committee chairman, “but we’ll have a debate worthy of this great country.”
Republicans, who have control of the House and Senate, are closer to passing Trump’s signature domestic policy package, yet there is political unease. Democratic immediately launched fresh challenges against it, decrying the way they say Republicans are hiding the true costs by using unusual budgeting.
A new analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget office Sunday estimates the Senate bill would increase the deficit by nearly $3.3 trillion from 2025 to 2034, a nearly $1 trillion increase over the House-passed bill. It also found that 11.8 million more Americans would become uninsured by 2034 if the bill became law, more than with the House’s approach.
Republicans remain reluctant to give their votes, and their leaders have almost no room to spare, given their narrow majorities. Essentially, they can afford three dissenters in the Senate, with its 53-47 GOP edge, and about as many in the House, if all members are present and voting. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. had sent his colleagues home for the weekend.
Trump, who has at times allowed wiggle room on his deadline, kept the pressure on lawmakers to finish. But the tense scene as voting came to a standstill for more than three hours let the internal discord play out in public.
In the end, Republicans Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Rand Paul of Kentucky opposed the motion to move ahead, joining all 47 Democrats. Trump noticed.
He threatened to campaign against Tillis, worried that Medicaid cuts would leave many without health care in his state. Trump badgered Tillis again on Sunday morning, saying the senator “has hurt the great people of North Carolina.”
Later Sunday, Tillis issued a lengthy statement announcing he would not seek reelection in 2026.
Republicans are using their majorities to push aside Democratic opposition, but have run into a series of political and policy setbacks. Not all GOP lawmakers are on board with proposals to reduce spending on Medicaid, food stamps and other programs as a way to help cover the cost of extending some $3.8 trillion in Trump tax breaks.
Renewed pressure to oppose the bill came from Elon Musk, who criticized it as “utterly insane and destructive.”
If the Senate is able to pass the package in the days ahead, the bill would return to the House for a final round of votes before it could reach the White House. GOP leaders will need almost every one of their members on board.
Tax breaks and core GOP priorities
At its core, the legislation would make permanent many of the tax breaks from Trump’s first term that would otherwise expire by year’s end if Congress fails to act, resulting in a potential tax increase on Americans. The bill would add new breaks, including no taxes on tips, and commit $350 billion to national security, including for Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
But the cutbacks to Medicaid, food stamps and green energy investments are also causing dissent within GOP ranks. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said the environmental rollbacks would amount to a “death sentence” for America’s wind and solar industries.
The Republicans are relying on the reductions to offset the lost tax revenues but some lawmakers say the cuts go too far, particularly for people receiving health care through Medicaid. Meanwhile, conservatives, worried about the nation’s debt, are pushing for steeper cuts.
Democrats can’t filibuster, but can stall
Using a congressional process called budget reconciliation, the Republicans can muscle the bill through on a simple majority vote in the Senate, rather than the typical 60-vote threshold needed to overcome objections.
Without the filibuster, Democrats in the minority have to latch on to other tools to mount their objections.
One is the full reading of the bill text, which has been done in past situations. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., forced a 2021 reading of a COVID relief package.
Other strategies the Democrats plan to use include using their full 10 hours of available debate time expected to launch later Sunday.
And then the Democrats are prepared to propose dozens of amendments to the package that would be considered in an all-night voting session — or all-day, depending on the hour.
A roll call full of drama
As Saturday’s vote tally teetered, attention turned to Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who was surrounded by GOP leaders in intense conversation. She voted “yes.”
Several provisions in the package are designed for her state in Alaska.
A short time later, Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., drew holdouts Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming to his office. Vice President JD Vance joined in. The talks dragged on.
Then Vance led them all back in to vote.
Later, Scott said he had met with the president, adding, “We all want to get to yes.”
Lee said the group “had an internal discussion about the strategy to achieve more savings and more deficit reduction, and I feel good about the direction where this is going, and more to come.”
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Associated Press writers Ali Swenson, Fatima Hussein, Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.
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