House Republicans passed their version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the legislative vehicle for President Donald Trump's agenda, on a party-line vote early Thursday morning. The massive package is now Senate Majority Leader John Thune's to handle. The Senate GOP faces a whole new set of hurdles to get the bill to Trump's desk, and potential clashes in their caucus and with the House could still derail the bill's passage.
Thanks to the budget reconciliation process, that set of hurdles does not include the filibuster. A simple majority vote is enough, and because Republicans control 53 Senate seats, Thune can lose three Republicans' support and still pass the bill with a tie-breaking vote from Vice President JD Vance. Theoretically, Thune could call up the legislation immediately and pass it without a single Democratic vote. However, Senate Republicans say there's work to be done before they can sign off on the bill.
"We'll make changes," Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., told NBC News last week. "We've been talking with the House and there's a lot of things we agree on. … But there'll be changes in a number of areas."
And much like in the House, some of the lawmakers' demands run at cross-purposes to demands from others in their caucus. For example, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., has been adamant that the package not cut Medicaid benefits for his constituents. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and three other Republicans made clear to Thune that they don't want to see clean energy tax credits ended, warning in a letter that doing so "would create uncertainty, jeopardizing capital allocation, long-term project planning, and job creation in the energy sector and across our broader economy."
This is a preview of Hayes Brown's latest column. Read the full column here.
