Senate Republicans ram Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' through key test vote

Senate Republicans rammed President Donald Trump s big beautiful bill through a procedural hurdle after hours of tense negotiations that put the megabill's fate into question Speculation swirled whether Republicans would be satisfied by the latest edition of the mammoth bill which was circulated just before the stroke of midnight Saturday morning TRUMP'S 'BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL' FACES REPUBLICAN FAMILY FEUD AS SENATE REVEALS ITS FINAL TEXTNearly every Republican except Sens Thom Tillis R-N C and Rand Paul R-Ky all voted to unlock a marathon -hour debate on the bill Senate Majority Leader John Thune R-S D could only afford to lose three votes Though effective the - party line vote was not without drama Sen Ron Johnson R-Wis flipped his vote from a no to yes in dramatic fashion as he and Sens Rick Scott R-Fla Cynthia Lummis R-Wyo and Mike Lee R-Utah made their way to the Senate floor accompanied by Vice President JD Vance Vance was called in event he was needed for a tie-breaking vote but only his negotiating services ended up being used No lawmaker requested to be the fourth and final decisive vote to kill the bill Republican leadership kept the floor open for nearly four hours while negotiations first on the Senate floor and then eventually in Thune's office continued The bill won't right now be debated thanks to Senate Democrats' plan to force the reading of the entire -page legislative behemoth on the Senate floor a move that could drain several hours and go deep into the night The megabill s fate and whether it could pass its first test was murky at best after senators met behind closed doors Friday and even during another luncheon on Saturday Lingering concerns in both chambers about Medicaid specifically the Medicaid provider tax rate and the effect of direct payments to states resource tax credits the state and local tax SALT deduction and others proved to be pain points that threatened the bill s survival ANXIOUS REPUBLICANS TURN TO TRUMP AMID DIVISIONS OVER 'BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL'However changes were made at the last-minute to either sate holdouts or comply with the Senate rules Indeed the Senate parliamentarian stripped numerous items from the bill that had to be reworked The Medicaid provider tax rate was kept largely the same except its implementation date was moved back a year Also included as a sweetener for lawmakers like Sens Susan Collins R-Maine Josh Hawley R-Mo and others was a billion rural hospital stabilization fund over the next five years Collins announced that she would aid the bill through the procedural hurdle and noted that the rural hospital stabilization fund was a start but whether she supports the bill on final passage remains to be seen If the bill is not further changed I will be leaning against the bill but I do believe this procedural vote to get on the bill so that people can offer amendments and debate it is appropriate Collins explained Tillis who is also concerned about the changes to Medicaid and would like to see a return to the House GOP's version revealed that he would not vote in favor of the bill during final passage GOP SENATOR CALLS FOR PARLIAMENTARIAN'S FIRING AFTER SERVING MEDICAID BLOW TO TRUMP'S 'BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL'The SALT deduction included in the House GOP s version of the bill also survived albeit the cap will remain intact for five years After that the cap will revert to its current Other sweeteners like expanding nutrition benefit waivers to Alaska and a tax cut for whaling boat captains were thrown in too to get moderates like Sen Lisa Murkowski R-Alaska on board with the bill Lee communicated that he withdrew his open lands sale provision which proved a sticking point for lawmakers in Montana and Idaho Still Republicans who are not satisfied with the current state of the bill will use the forthcoming vote-a-rama when lawmakers can offer an unlimited number of amendments to try and change as much as they can before final passage Democrats however will use the process to inflict as much pain as viable on Republicans Once the amendment marathon concludes which could be in the wee hours of Monday morning lawmakers will move to a final vote to send the bill which is an amendment to the House GOP s version of the big beautiful bill back to the lower chamber From there it's a dead sprint to get the package on the president s desk by July In a announcement of administration program obtained by Fox News Digital Trump signaled that he would sign the bill President Trump is committed to keeping his promises the memo read And failure to pass this bill would be the ultimate betrayal