Senate Republicans hit overdrive on their play to advance Trump’s agenda

Senate Republicans are racing to finalize plans to move a budget blueprint that would finally unlock their ability to move ahead with Trump’s agenda in one massive policy bill.

Senate Republicans are racing to finalize plans to move a budget blueprint that would finally unlock their ability to move ahead with Trump’s agenda in one massive policy bill. Passing a budget framework would allow them to then write a tax, immigration and defense bill that can pass with just a simple majority in the Senate. After months of internal divisions between House and Senate GOP leaders on how to proceed, this week has proven significant in helping leaders bridge divides that roiled the two chambers earlier this year. A lot has transpired to bring them to this moment, including Speaker Mike Johnson demonstrating repeatedly he can keep his narrow House majority in line and Senate Republican Leader John Thune’s recognition that if the House can act on Trump’s vision of “one big beautiful bill,” the Senate will need to follow suit. There remains a lot of work ahead, but Senate leaders are signaling to their conference they could move a budget blueprint as soon as next week. That would finally get the House and Senate to a place where they can begin the bigger discussions about how to fully execute a massive tax, border, defense and savings bill that could include a debt hike for the next two years. It’s the first, critical step to a massive undertaking. If Senate Republicans can finish an updated version of their budget blueprint and leadership is confident they have the votes, they’ll go to the floor next week. That unlocks yet another budget vote-a-rama.