Senate Republicans have begun the arduous process of adopting their budget blueprint and are now set to take a major step forward on President Donald Trump’s agenda later this week.
GOP leaders face some objections that will slow them down, mostly from Democrats, but for now they’re on track. Contrast that with the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson is struggling to corral his conference, and it’s unclear whether he’ll have the votes to move forward with his own budget next week.
The state of play: Sen. Rand Paul appears to be the only Republican planning to vote against the resolution, and Democrats can’t tank Majority Leader John Thune’s budget plan if the rest of the GOP falls in line.
But under Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s direction, they do plan to force Republicans to take some tough votes first. They’re expecting to focus on potential cuts to Medicaid and Elon Musk’s access to taxpayers’ personal information, as well as highlighting GOP policies that favor the wealthy. (For what it’s worth, Trump said Tuesday in a Fox News interview that Republicans won’t cut Medicaid.)
“They are going to finally have to take votes to support it all,” Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy said, referring to the “vote-a-rama” on budget amendments expected to start Thursday.
Still, Thune is in a much better position than Johnson. The speaker and his whip team are racing to win over at least a dozen GOP holdouts during the chamber’s recess week. Johnson can only afford to lose one member if he wants to approve his plan for Trump’s agenda, assuming all Democrats show up to oppose it. (That might not be a safe assumption: Rep. Kevin Mullin disclosed yesterday he has been hospitalized.)
In their calls to the holdouts, House leaders have been reminding members that the budget blueprint is just a starting point and that the specifics can be worked out in coming weeks. It’s an argument that has worked in the Senate — where there are several lawmakers who insist the blueprint needs major work, such as generating more revenue to offset anticipated border, energy and defense spending. But they’re willing to give it the green light for now.
What else we’re watching:
- DOGE balancing act: Thune isn’t criticizing Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency efforts, even as some of his members signal they’re growing uncomfortable with the extensive cuts. Thune acknowledged that there are “concerns when it comes to the privacy of personal information,” but that he believes Republicans largely support the goal of increasing government efficiency.
- Labor secretary hearing: Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s confirmation hearing to become Trump’s Labor secretary is happening Wednesday after getting postponed last week. Sen. Rand Paul still plans to vote against advancing her due to her past pro-union positions, so she is going to need Democrats’ support to get out of committee. But the party hasn’t felt inclined to help on Trump’s nominees lately, given the president’s gutting of federal funds.
- Collins’ spending talks concern: The government funding deadline is less than a month away and top Senate appropriator Susan Collins said Tuesday evening she’s “increasingly concerned” about the dwindling amount of time House and Senate negotiators have to strike a deal. Republican appropriators sent a new offer to their Democratic counterparts over the weekend.
Katherine Tully-McManus contributed to this report.