On Saturday evening, the U.S. Senate took a preliminary but important step towards passing President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB), by holding a procedural vote to allow debate on it. It passed by a 51-49 tally.
Agreed to, 51-49: Motion to proceed to Cal. #107, H.R.1, One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
— Senate Cloakroom (@SenateCloakroom) June 29, 2025
It wasn’t a sure thing from the vantage point of Friday night, when Senate Majority Leader called the vote happening on Saturday “aspirational,” even suggesting that the Republicans’ self-imposed deadline of July 4 could be squishy.
Voting began just minutes before 8 p.m. Eastern time, with little wiggle room for nay votes considering three Republicans in the upper chamber had already said they were nos:
GOP Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin have voted against proceeding with debate. Republican leaders can bear no more than three defections while letting Vance break a 50-50 tie.
Earlier on Saturday, Sen. Josh Hawley (R_MO) said he would vote yes, but “he’ll still try to change Medicaid language” in the vote-a-rama:
Hawley clarifies he is not going to offer an amendment but thinks the language needs to be changed / will work to make sure cuts dont go into effect
— Jordain Carney (@jordainc) June 28, 2025
Also ahead of the vote, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) vowed to force Republicans to have Senate clerks read the full, nearly 1,000-page document on the Senate floor: [emphasis added]
“I will object to Republicans moving forward on their Big, Ugly Bill without reading it on the Senate floor,” Schumer said on X. “Republicans won’t tell America what’s in the bill
“So Democrats are forcing it to be read start to finish on the floor,” he said. “We will be here all night if that’s what it takes to read it.”
Schumer’s move is expected to take up to 15 hours and is designed to allow Senate Democrats more time to parse through the myriad provisions within the massive legislative text. Ultimately, it will prove a smokescreen as Senate Republicans will continue to march toward a final vote.
Here’s how my colleague Bob Hoge framed it, with his usual flair for humor:
READ MORE: Schoolyard Games: Chuck Schumer Uses Juvenile Tactics to Delay Vote on Big, Beautiful Bill
Anyway, however long the Schumer charade takes, the famous/infamous debate and vote-a-thon would follow.
Just in case there was a need for a tie-breaker, Vice President JD Vance was on hand.
Vance is here pic.twitter.com/wtI1L9ANi2
— Jordain Carney (@jordainc) June 29, 2025
Punchbowl News’ Laura Weiss shared on her X account that at 8:48 p.m., Sen. Lisa Murkowski “still [hadn’t] voted,” and was in the process of “a long series of convos w/ GOP leaders on the floor.”
She added that the Alaska Republican “bee-lined to Finance Chair Crapo when she got to the floor, then talked w/ VP Vance & long convos w Crapo, Thune, Graham, Barrasso & big huddle of senators & some aides.” Then just about 9 p.m., the senator and “Curtis talked on the floor and just went in the cloakroom where Senate GOP leaders were huddling.”
Then, at just about 9:30 p.m., Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) agreed to remove a sticky part of the bill – on the sale of federal lands:
Mike Lee is taking out the federal land sales provision from the bill. This had drawn strong opposition from Idaho and Montana senators https://t.co/GdFQjLlURu
— Max Cohen (@maxpcohen) June 29, 2025
Back to VP Vance. Max Cohen of Punchbowl said on X that around 9:20 p.m., Sen. Thune “head[ed]back into his office, flanked by Crapo, Barrasso and Lummis.” When Cohen asked him, “What’s the deal with Rick Scott and Mike Lee?” the senator reportedly answered, “It’s a long vote.”
Weiss wrote that “Sen. Ron Johnson – who has already voted no on the motion to proceed – walks into Thune’s office where conservatives are meeting w/ leadership…Vote still open.” When Johnson was asked if he might change to aye, he answered, “Anything’s possible.”
Punchbowl co-founder John Bresnahan added in an X post that Vance had entered the office. Sen. Schmitt (MO) also was there, he reported.
Just before 10 p.m., according to the Hill:
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) voted “aye” on Saturday night to advance the GOP megabill to advance President Trump’s agenda after voicing serious misgivings in recent weeks about deep cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in the legislation.
The vote was held open at just after 10 p.m. for more talks.
National Journal journalist Nancy Vu wrote about the delay in the vote, now clocking in at around 200 minutes::
The holdouts are not saying much as they walk back and forth from Thune’s office
“We’re working hard in good faith,” Johnson said.
— Nancy Vu (@Vu_Reports) June 29, 2025
At just after 11 p.m., Vu wrote: “Johnson, Lummis, and Lee all voted for the MTP.”
Paul and Tillis were the Republicans who voted no.
After the vote, Thune was asked to comment on concessions, if any, the GOP leadership made to the straglers. He declined, but told Politico, “We’ve landed in a good spot.” When asked if “this mean[s] you have the votes to pass the bill… Thune said, “I never take anything for granted around here.”
This also happened:
Trump Comes Out Swinging Against BBB Opponent Thom Tillis, Meanwhile Murkowski Votes to Advance
Next Steps
Where do things go from here? Of course, the Senate will have to finish its work — the reading of the text, then an (expected) votearama on Sunday, with a floor vote to follow, before sending it back to the House.
In a conference call Saturday, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) reportedly reassured members that he has been helping Senate Republicans shepherd the bill to make it more closely match the bill the House had passed. There will be some bumps in the road, of course.
He also had a caution for them, also with “a promise”:
Johnson also [sic] members to bring any remaining concerns directly to their GOP senators and to the White House — and to not air those grievances in public. House GOP leadership said they would stick with a promise to give members 48 hours notice of a vote so that lawmakers have adequate time to return to Washington.
House Majority Whip Steve Scalise also gave a possible timeline of “votes Tuesday evening or Wednesday on the sweeping Republican megabill, according to three people who were on the call and were granted anonymity to describe it.”
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