President Trump warned Senate Republicans Saturday that refusing to support his “big beautiful bill” would represent the “ultimate betrayal,” as Democrats did everything in their power to stifle movement on its passage during a rare weekend session.
Senate members were prepared to take a procedural vote by late afternoon to kick off debate on the multi-trillion-dollar bill that makes Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent, ends taxation on tips and overtime, boosts border security funding and scraps green-energy tax credits passed during the Biden administration.
But Democrats, led by Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) obstructed the process by demanding an out-loud reading of the 940-page document by clerks before debating on it can begin – a move expected to delay the process by at least 12 to 15 hours as Republicans scramble to meet Trump’s July 4th deadline for passage.
“Democrats are forcing it to be read start to finish on the floor. We will be here all night if that’s what it takes to read it,” Schumer said on X.
Earlier Saturday, the White House officials urged the Senate pass the bill, so Trump can sign it into law and “unleash economic growth nationwide.”
“The One Big Beautiful Act reflects the shared priorities of both the Congress and the Administration,” the White House said in a statement of administration policy.
“Therefore, the Congress should immediately pass this bill and send it to the President’s desk by July 4, 2025 to show the American people that they are serious about ‘promises made, promises kept.
“President Trump is committed to keeping his promises, and failure to pass this bill would be the ultimate betrayal.”
The president is expected to remain in Washington DC this weekend to get fellow Republicans in line.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) already told Fox News’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” that he will vote “no” on the bill.
“President Trump, his goal in the Senate was to make the Big Beautiful Bill even better. I’d like it much better,” he said Saturday. “Right now, I’m not going to vote for a motion to proceed today. We just got the bill. I got my first copy about 1:23 [am] this morning.”
The megabill is expected to raise the debt ceiling by roughly $5 trillion in order to cram in all the provisions.
The latest version released late Friday night includes a vast majority of the policies the House narrowly approved in May, but also includes key changes to programs such as Medicaid and reducing federal spending for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Republicans from states with large rural populations have long opposed a reduction in state tax revenue for Medicaid providers including rural hospitals.
The newly released legislation delays that reduction and includes a $25 billion fund to support rural Medicaid providers from 2028 to 2032.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said he too will vote against the megabill, absent changes his Republican colleagues have so far refused to make to Medicaid, which has been a sticking point in the party.
“We can and must do better than this,” said Tillis, who called on the Senate to adopt the more “commonsense” approach to Medicaid outlined in the earlier House bill.
The revised bill raises the cap on federal deductions for state and local taxes, known as SALT, to $40,000 with an annual 1% inflation adjustment through 2029, after which it would fall back to the current $10,000.
It would also phase the cap down for those earning more than $500,000 a year. The SALT deduction has been a top priority of lawmakers from New York and other high-tax states.
Senate Republicans also removed a Section 899 “revenge tax” on some foreign companies and investors — which had Wall Street concerned — after Treasury Security Scott Bessent made the request.
The bill also includes a quicker phase out on renewable energy tax credits for wind and solar energy projects. The new measure requires such projects to be “placed in service” by the end of 2027 to receive incentives, rather than being under construction by that time.
The latest bill version also adds back a plan championed by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) to sell up to 1.2 million acres of Interior Department land for housing and “community development” in 11 western states. The measure, which could raise as much as $6 billion, has come under fire from some Republican senators representing affected states.
With a 53-47 majority in the upper chamber, the GOP can only afford to lose three votes and still pass the package with a tie-breaking ballot cast by Vice President JD Vance.
A version of it passed the House by a single vote May 22. But the lower chamber will have to vote on the bill again after the Senate finalizes its changes to it.
Trump had been lobbying for the bill to pass both chambers and reach his desk for signing by July 4.
“The Great Republicans in the U.S. Senate are working all weekend to finish our ‘ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL,’” the president posted on his Truth Social on Friday.
“The House of Representatives must be ready to send it to my desk before July 4th – We can get it done,” he also said, adding later: “We can go longer, but we’d like to get it done by that time, if possible.”
GOP momentum screeched to a halt Thursday as the Senate’s “parliamentarian,” Elizabeth MacDonough — the “referee” of the chamber who ensures proposed legislation abides by the rules — threw out line items that would have eliminated health-care coverage for non-citizens.
