A marathon vote series on amendments, known as a vote-a-rama, is expected to continue through Monday and could go into the early morning hours of Tuesday.
The Senate on Monday began the amendment process known as a vote-a-rama on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act ahead of the final vote on the bill.
This comes after the Senate ended debate on the legislation at around 1 a.m. ET.
The body then proceeded to a vote-a-rama at around 9 a.m. ET, during which senators will undertake a marathon series of mandatory votes on amendments before the chamber can proceed to consideration of the Republican megabill itself.
Over the weekend, the Senate advanced the budget reconciliation legislation over the first procedural hurdle in a 51–49 vote on June 28 as Republicans barrel forward to meet President Donald Trump’s July 4 deadline to pass the bill. Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) opposed advancing the bill.
As of Sunday evening, the Senate has been in session since Saturday morning without adjourning, approaching the 34-hour mark. Much of that time—16 hours—was dedicated to a reading of the 940-page bill, as requested by Senate Democrats.
The spending legislation, which is being passed using the filibuster-proof reconciliation process, is the culmination of weeks of negotiations within the Republican Party and between the two chambers of Congress. It touches on practically every area of policy and the federal budget, from taxes to border security to federal entitlements.
The vote series set to begin sometime on Monday comes as much uncertainty remains around the final outcome of the vote.
Under the reconciliation process—which is uniquely capable of bypassing the 60 votes needed to pass most legislation through the upper chamber—each amendment offered must be allowed a vote.
With 53 Republican seats, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) can spare no more than three defections—in which case Vice President JD Vance would need to cast a tie-breaking vote to pass the bill.
Republicans are broadly united behind key elements of the package—extending Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, funding enhanced immigration enforcement, border security, and a series of other tweaks to federal policies and rules.
By Joseph Lord
