The Senate is moving towards a final vote on the broad Tax and Immigration bill of President Donald Trump, as the Republicans rush to take it through the finish line before July 4.
Trump’s self -imposed deadline meant a rare weekend session for legislators, a full of partisan drama and some republican interior struggles in the “One Big Beautiful Bill act”.
On Monday morning, the senators began an “A-rama vote”, a series of votes on the amendments proposed to the Megabill.
There is no limit to the number of amendments that legislators can search. The leader of the Senate minority, Chuck Schumer, the main democrat of the Chamber, promised that his party would bring an amendment after the amendment during the marathon session. The Democrats forced a reading of the bill of 940 pages during the weekend, which took almost 16 hours.
“Each senator will soon have the opportunity to reject these nonsense and vote for the common sense budget. Americans will be observing,” Schumer said on Monday while criticizing Trump’s bill as a break for billionaires who will damage the families of the working class.
The Democrats used the first hours of the vote-rama to force votes highlighting the cuts that Megabill makes to the hospitals of Medicaid, Snap and Rural and to hammer the Republicans in the tax cuts that say that the measure gives the richest Americans.
The Senate obtained 47-53 an amendment led by Schumer who said that there would be undone “the transvestite that is in the center of the Republican bill.”
“Its bill is the so -called Big Beautiful Bill, which is really a large and ugly betrayal, reduces taxes for billionaires by eliminating medical care for millions of people. Then, what my amendment simply says, if people’s medical care costs increase, billionaire tax cuts disappear,” Schumer said.
The senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, reaches the Republicans begin a final impulse to advance in the exemptions and expenses package of President Donald Trump, in the Capitol in Washington, on June 30, 2025.
J. Scott Applewhite / AP
The effort of Democratic Senator Ed Markey to eliminate the provisions that would negatively affect rural hospitals due to Medicaid cuts also failed, but received support from two Republicans: Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins
Senator Amy Klobuchar, the main Democrat of the Senate Agriculture Committee, argued that the SNAP provisions in the bill create “chaos for state budgets and difficulties for families” and violate the budget rules. His motion related to SNAP was renounced by Republicans.
The leader of the majority of the Senate, John Thune, defended the bill as the delivery of the Trump campaign promises to eliminate taxes on tips and the payment of overtime while increasing the expense for defense and border security.
“It has been a long debate,” Thune said on his own floor comments before the votes about the amendments. “I know that people are tired. But at the end of the day, we want to do this so that this country is safer, stronger and more prosperous, not only for today but for future generations of Americans.”
Until now, Republicans have defeated all democratic efforts to modify or reconsider the bill, but the session could continue until Monday night.
The president of the Senate Finance Committee, Mike Crapo, Republican, argued against several of the Democratic amendments.
“The reality is that the reforms we are establishing are trying to reign in the control of the waste, fraudulent and abusive spending that actually diverts the resources of the people that these programs really deserve to receive,” Crapo said about the amendment of Schumer in Medicaid.
The leader of the majority of the Senate, John Thune, speaks with the journalists when he returns to his office from the Senate Chamber in the United States Capitol, on June 30, 2025 in Washington.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
The vote-rama is the last obstacle before a vote on the final approval of the bill in the Senate.
There is little margin of error in the camera controlled by the Republicans. A procedural vote on Saturday night to open the debate on the bill was approved by little in a 51-49 vote after two republican defections.
Gos Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Thom Tillis of North Carolina voted against advancing in the bill. Tillis criticized Medicaid’s changes in the bill, saying that he would damage his voters and that he would represent a betrayal of Trump’s promise not to touch the right program on which millions of people trust for the coverage of medical care.
Tillis’s opposition drew Trump’s anger, and the president threatens to support a two -period senator. Tillis then suddenly announced that he would not look for re -election, saying that he later sent a text message to Trump on Saturday night, which suggests that “he probably needed to start looking for a replacement.”
“I respect President Trump. Support for most of his agenda, but I don’t lean to anyone. When the people of North Carolina are at risk. And this bill puts them at risk,” Tillis said.
Senator Thom Tillis talks to journalists while Republican legislators work to approve the broad bill of expenses and taxes by President Donald Trump, in Washington, on June 30, 2025.
Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters
What is still for Obbb in the house?
If the “Big Beutiful Beat Law” passes in the Senate, will have to return to the Chamber so that the members consider the changes made in the bill.
The republican leaders of the Chamber say that Wednesday is the first opportunity for a Megabill vote.
“Members are informed that votes are now expected in the Chamber at 9 am on Wednesday, July 2. They are attentive to future updates to obtain additional information about this week’s calendar,” said a notice from the office of the majority of Whip Tom Emmer.
Republican leaders have told members who will receive 48 hours in advance before a vote is called and will have 72 hours to review the text of the bill.
The camera approved Trump’s Megabill for just one vote in May. The Senate version of the bill will face a uphill battle in the Chamber, given the thin majority of the Republican Party.
The moderate republican representative of California, David Valadao, said he will not vote not given the changes of Medicaid in the Senate bill. Several conservatives, including Chip Roy representatives of Texas, Josh Breechen de Oklahoma and Eric Burlison of Missouri have also expressed their opposition to the Senate’s bill version.
The president of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, and other Republican leaders worked during the weekend to block the votes, even when several legislators have expressed opposition to the version of the Senate, which is not yet completed. Johnson can only afford to lose three defections if all members vote and are present.
The White House Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said President Trump was working “hand in hand” with Johnson and Thune, and that the two leaders had met him in the White House the earliest Monday.
“Republicans must be maintained hard and unified during the final stretch, and we have them to do the job,” Leavitt said during the White House information session.
But the sources familiar with the matter told ABC News Thune and Johnson have not met with President Trump in the White House, and from now on the two leaders do not have current plans to meet with the president on Monday afternoon, since the “act of a great bill” progresses in the Senate.
A Thune spokesman said he is worried when the Senate moves through amendments to Megabill.
“The teams are obviously in close contact/coordination, as always, but we continue to advance through vote-a-rama in the Senate while we work to move this bill a step closer to the president’s desk,” said the spokesman in an X post.
President Johnson is in Washington working through the concerns of the Chamber members as the Senate works through the bill, including several provisions that could mean problems later in the week if the bill is sent back to the Chamber.
John Parkinson from ABC News contributed to this report.
