The US Senate passed a budget blueprint early Friday, overcoming Democratic resistance and bringing the Trump administration one step closer to obtaining the funding it seeks for border security and other issues.
The slimmed-down plan, which lacks Trump’s support since it does not include the tax cuts he wants to extend, was accepted during an all-night “vote-a-rama” session on various amendments proposed by Democrats.
The focus is now on the House of Representatives, whose Republican leaders insist on passing their budget blueprint -“one big beautiful bill,” as Trump puts it—which includes tax cuts.
If they are unable to reach an agreement in the short term, they may revert to the tighter budget framework established by the Senate on Friday.
The resolution passed overnight would allow the budget to pass the Senate with a simple majority, rather than 60 votes. Republicans control the chamber, but only by 53 votes.
Any budget would still have to pass through the House, where Republicans also have a slim majority, before becoming law.
Senate Republicans are rushing to enact the reduced budget to help Trump score early electoral triumphs on issues like migration, which has long been at the top of his agenda.
Their version would push other objectives, such as extending Trump’s tax benefits, which he implemented during his first term and would expire at the end of the year, several months later.
The Republican leadership of the House of Representatives prefers the “big beautiful” bill, which includes the tax credits and other key initiatives.
The strategy is not without risks.
Massive federal programmes such as Medicare and Medicaid, which provide health insurance to millions of Americans, might be targeted by House conservatives as they seek to offset the cost of extending Trump’s tax cuts.
But reducing those programmes might be extremely controversial. With a narrow majority in the House, Republicans risk having their text rejected.
In a tweet on his Truth Social platform Thursday, Trump thanked Senate Republicans for their efforts to fund his border initiative.
However, he did not back down from his prior remarks urging passage of the wider House budget framework.
“We need both Chambers to pass the House Budget to ‘kickstart’ the Reconciliation process and move all of our priorities to the concept of ‘ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL,'” he wrote in a Truth Social post on Wednesday.
