Capping a tumultuous night, the Republican-controlled Senate advanced President Donald Trump's package of tax breaks, spending cuts and increased deportation money , with more weekend work ahead as Congress races to meet his Fourth of July deadline for passage.
By a 51-49 tally and with Vice President JD Vance at the Capitol to break a potential tie, the Senate cleared a key procedural step Saturday as midnight approached. Voting had come to a standstill, dragging for more than three hours, with holdout senators huddling for negotiations and taking private meetings off the Senate floor. In the end, two Republicans opposed the motion to move ahead on Trump's signature domestic policy plan , joining all 47 Democrats.
"Tonight we saw a GREAT VICTORY in the Senate," Trump said in a social media post afterward.
Republicans are using their majorities in Congress to push aside Democratic opposition, but they 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 .
Trump had lashed out against holdouts, threatening to campaign against one Republican, Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who had announced he could not support the bill because of Medicaid cuts that he worried would leave many without health care in his state. A new analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the Senate version of the bill would increase by 11.8 million the number of people without health insurance in 2034.