The GOP can only afford to lose three votes with Vice President JD Vance casting a tie-breaking vote.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) announced on July 1 that a deal has been reached to proceed to a final vote on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to enact President Donald Trump’s signature legislative agenda items.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) echoed this sentiment.
“I mean, anybody is welcome to change. You know, we’ve been changing by the minute,” he said, adding that “it’s been a process, but we’re in good shape.”
It is expected that Vice President JD Vance will break a tie as Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) have said they will not vote for the measure. Tillis has expressed concerns that the cuts to Medicaid are too steep, while Paul has criticized the measure for increasing the debt ceiling by $5 trillion.
An amendment by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) that would have raised taxes on single filers making at least $25 million and couples making $50 million failed.
Amendments by Sens. John Kennedy (R-La.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) were withdrawn.
Collins wants funding for rural hospitals, while Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) wants less cuts to food stamp recipients in her home state and funding for hospitals there.
An amendment to remove a proposed ban on states from regulating artificial intelligence passed, 99–1. Tillis was the lone vote against it.
The GOP can only afford to lose three votes with Vance casting a tie-breaking vote. As of publication time, Vance is present at the Capitol.
Were the Senate to pass the bill, it would need to go back to the House, which passed its version in late May, in order to get it to Trump’s desk.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) can only afford to lose a few Republicans on party-line votes in the lower congressional chamber.
Congressional Republicans are hoping to meet Trump’s July 4 deadline. On July 1, Trump acknowledged that the deadline might not be met.
