Senate Republicans just approved their budget resolution after a more than 10-hour vote-a-rama. For now, it’s the GOP’s “Plan B,” as Trump’s preferred budget may not have the support to move ahead next week in the House.
Senators slogged through 25 roll-call votes on amendments as Democrats tried to squeeze the opposing party and lay the groundwork for 2026 attack ads.
Some Republicans grumbled about having to go through the exercise. Sen. Josh Hawley told reporters he spoke to Trump on Thursday evening, relaying that while the president did give a “little nod” towards the Senate budget in a Truth Social post, “He made clear to me … he wants one big, beautiful bill. He said that two or three times on the phone.”
Senators have insisted their resolution is just a back-up plan if Speaker Mike Johnson can’t get his one-bill version approved in the House. Still, Hawley wasn’t convinced — and neither, apparently, is Trump. Asked Thursday night why the Senate was still moving ahead on a strategy Trump doesn’t support, Hawley replied: “Great question. That’s sort of what he said to me.”
Four Republican senators sided several times with Democrats on amendment votes: Hawley and Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan. Hawley ended up voting for the budget resolution, making Sen. Rand Paul the only GOP holdout, along with all Democrats.
Some amendment fights you missed overnight:
- The Senate voted 49-51 to reject an amendment from Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth that would protect the right to fertility care and require insurers to cover in vitro fertilization. Duckworth called a recent IVF executive order from Trump “toothless, overly vague.” GOP Sen. Katie Britt called the amendment “nothing more than a Trojan horse” proposal that could allow for human cloning and “gene-edited designer babies.”
- Rand offered an amendment to add $1.5 trillion in spending cuts under the Senate plan, to mirror the slashing required under the House Republican budget. Senate Republicans were mostly a no, tanking the amendment 24-76.
- One of the only amendments adopted was a largely symbolic change offered by Sullivan to protect Medicare and Medicaid, though some Democrats argued that it would effectively raise the age of Medicare eligibility and cut benefits.
The battle is just getting started. The House and Senate need to adopt identical budget resolutions to move onto the next step: committees getting to work on recommendations for additional spending and funding cuts. And the House intends to take up a vastly different blueprint next week that would pave the way for one mammoth package on border, energy and tax policies rather than splitting off taxes into separate legislation.
Johnson is bullish he’ll find the support for his budget resolution next week, even as some of his members face constituent anger back in their districts over potential cuts. We’ll see if he’s able to muscle it through his narrow majority — and if senators will agree to throw out their budget if he does.
What else we’re watching:
- DOGE flak: A few Republicans are starting to take their concerns public. Ohio Rep. Troy Balderson lamented to a business group in his district that Trump’s executive orders are “getting out of control” and eroding Congress’ power (he later posted on X that he fully supports Trump’s agenda and wants Congress to make his executive actions permanent). Meanwhile, Georgia Rep. Rich McCormick was met with anger over DOGE’s cuts in a town hall, as well as possible cuts to Social Security and Medicaid. Reps. Cliff Bentz and Stephanie Bice also appeared to take some heat.
- Cue the stopgap: The chance that negotiators reach a funding deal before the March 14 shutdown deadline is diminishing. Appropriations Chair Susan Collins said negotiators “appear to be at an impasse,” while top Democratic appropriator Patty Murray said even if they do get a deal on toplines soon, they may need more time to assemble the 12 funding bills.
- Donalds for governor: Rep. Byron Donalds is signaling he might run for Florida governor in 2026, after Trump said in a Truth Social post that the congressman would have his “total endorsement.” Donalds teased there was an “announcement coming soon.”
