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The Senate on Saturday is still eyeing an afternoon procedural vote to advance President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” after two key holdouts changed their vote, but the push appears to be on shaky ground as a handful of Republican senators have warned they will vote against the reconciliation package.
Montana Republican Sen. Tim Sheehy on Saturday threatened to vote against advancing the bill because it includes language to sell millions of acres of public lands, before reversing course and stating he will vote “yes” and instead propose an amendment stripping the language from the bill.
Republican Sens. Thom Tillis (N.C.), Ron Johnson (Wis.) and Rand Paul (Ky.) have already expressed that they will either not vote to move the bill along or back the final passage of the legislation.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) can only afford to lose three votes.
Earlier on Saturday, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley (R) became the first GOP holdout to announce he will back the latest form of the bill despite previously expressing concern about deep cuts to Medicaid. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she will vote for the measure to proceed, but said she will propose several amendments to change the bill.
Thune on Friday noted that the voting schedule would subject to change and called the vote “aspirational” as internal squabbles and parliamentarian rulings cast doubt on its passage ahead of a self-imposed July 4 deadline.
”All of it depends on …[we’ve] got a few things we’re waiting on, outcomes from the parliamentarian. If we can get some of those questions, issues landed then my expectation is at some point, yeah, tomorrow we’ll be ready to go,” Thune told reporters.
Trump opted to stay in Washington to focus on getting the GOP megabill closer to the finish line.
The crucial weekend on Capitol Hill comes after the Trump administration received a major victory with the Supreme Court’s decision to effectively block judges from issuing nationwide injunctions.
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