Republicans have managed to advance President Donald Trump’s budget framework through the U.S. Senate after a long battle for the votes.
The Senate passed a framework for a sweeping bill promoting Trump’s agenda.
It came after an hours-long series of amendment votes.
During the marathon vote series, Democrats sought to put Republicans on record on issues like tariffs and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
It passed mostly along party lines in a 51 to 48 vote around 2:30 a.m. ET on Saturday morning.
Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Rand Paul (R-KY) were the only two Republicans to join Democrats in opposing the measure.
The amended framework would raise the debt ceiling by up to $5 trillion within the reconciliation process.
The move takes future leverage away from Senate Democrats.
It would also make Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent by using what’s called a current policy baseline that Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) decides.
The scoring tool essentially means the cost of making Trump’s tax cuts permanent would be factored at $0 because it extends current policy, rather than counting it as new dollars being added to the federal deficit.
Some conservatives have signaled they’re wary of using that