Senate Republicans Advance Big Portion Of Trump’s Agenda
The Senate, led by Republicans, has approved a budget framework that closely mirrors former President Donald Trump’s legislative goals. This includes making his 2017 tax cuts permanent and allocating $175 billion for enhanced border security efforts.
The resolution passed narrowly, 51–48. Republican Senators Rand Paul of Kentucky and Susan Collins of Maine broke ranks and voted with Democrats in opposing the plan. The vote came after an all-night “vote-a-rama,” a process where Democrats forced votes on a series of controversial amendments touching on entitlements, government reform, and tariffs tied to Trump-era trade policy.
GOP senators emphasized that, contrary to Democratic accusations, the anticipated tax and spending legislation—once the budget resolution clears both chambers—does not intend to reduce Medicaid or Medicare benefits. They are relying on budget reconciliation, a process that bypasses the Senate filibuster and allows legislation to pass with a simple majority, to push Trump's agenda forward.
“The argument is going to be made that we’re going to hurt all kinds of different people tonight in different ways,” said Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) during floor debate. “But the reality is that’s not going to happen. The President has been very clear any reforms to Medicare or Medicaid must not reduce patient benefits.”
According to the Daily Caller, none of the Democratic amendments directly addressed border security or President Trump’s deportation policies.
Sen. Paul opposed the measure primarily due to its provision for a $5 trillion debt ceiling increase, which he described as potentially the single largest borrowing authorization in recent U.S. history.
“If we expand the debt at $5 trillion that will be an expansion of the debt equal to or exceeding everything that happened in the Biden years,” Paul argued on the Senate floor. “Republicans who vote for this will be on record as being more fiscally liberal than their counterparts. They will vote to borrow more money than the Democrats have ever borrowed.”
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget—a nonpartisan watchdog—estimated that, as written, the bill would add roughly $5.8 trillion to the national deficit. The group described this as “historically unprecedented in its fiscal irresponsibility.”
Republican leaders in the Senate argue that the minimal spending cuts in the proposal offer the necessary room to maneuver during the reconciliation process.
But not all Republicans are on board. Fiscal conservatives in the House remain skeptical and are calling for deeper spending cuts before lending their support.
“If the Senate can deliver real deficit reduction in line with or greater than the House goals, I can support the Senate budget resolution,” stated House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris. “However, by the Senate setting committee instructions so low at $4 billion compared to the House’s $1.5 to $2 trillion, I am unconvinced that will happen. The Senate is free to put pen to paper to draft its reconciliation bill, but I can’t support House passage of the Senate changes to our budget resolution until I see the actual spending and deficit reduction plans to enact President Trump’s America First agenda.”
House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington was even more critical, saying, “The Senate response was unserious and disappointing, creating $5.8 trillion in new costs and a mere $4 billion in enforceable cuts, less than one day’s worth of borrowing by the federal government.”
The original budget resolution crafted by the House did not include permanent tax relief, which was seen as a nonstarter for both Senate Republicans and Trump himself.
To bridge that gap, Senate Republicans revised the fiscal framework to include a permanent continuation of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts. Their approach used a scoring assumption that treated the extension as deficit-neutral since it would simply maintain current policy.
“Americans should not have to live in fear of a tax hike every few years,” Sen. John Thune said in a Thursday floor speech.