It took 16 hours to read Trump's
940-page, foot-high bill aloud. Now the long debate begins
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 midafternoon 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 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 lawmakers
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.
Republican holdouts 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 Saturday night
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.
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He threatened to
campaign against Tillis, who was 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.
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.
Democrats also intend to use their full 10 hours of available debate
time, now underway.
And then 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.」
_The Senate clerks completed the full
reading of the Senate GOP』s massive tax and spending bill on Sunday afternoon,
allowing the chamber to start the countdown clock toward a final vote on the
package sometime on Monday.
Democrats, in an attempt
to delay passage of the bill, forced the clerks to read aloud all 940 pages of
the package, an endeavor that clocked in at 15 hours and 55 minutes and ended
shortly after 3 p.m. EDT.
「I objected to stop
Republicans moving forward on their Big, Ugly Bill until they read every single
word of it to the American people,」 Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer
(D-N.Y.) wrote on the social platform X on
Saturday night.
Senate Majority Leader
John Thune (R-S.D.) thanked the clerks.
「I would like to start
by just taking a moment to thank the clerks, who stayed up all night reading
the amendment and getting us to this point. I know it was a long night and that
we』re not finished yet, but I want them to know the Senate appreciates their
dedication, their stamina and their service,」 he said.
The chamber will now
begin up to 20 hours of debate, equally divided between the two sides, before
an unlimited series of amendment votes known as a 「vote-a-rama」 is set to
begin.