Congress
Senate Republicans edge out the House again, planning budget vote this week
Senate Republicans will vote this week on a budget blueprint that would unlock a key part of President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda.
“It’s time to act on the decisive mandate the American people gave to President Trump in November,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune wrote on X Tuesday afternoon. “Securing the border, rebuilding our defense, and unleashing American energy. That starts this week with passing [Budget Chair Lindsey Graham’s] budget.”
Senate Republicans have been moving quickly to advance their plan, which includes border, energy and defense policies, while House GOP leaders work to unite their conference around a package that also includes tax cuts. Under Senate Republicans’ proposal, lawmakers would come back later this year to make changes to the tax code in a separate bill.
The two sides will need to reconcile their strategies in order to eventually pass a bill under the rules of budget reconciliation, which allows them to skirt the 60-vote filibuster in the Senate.
By bringing their resolution to the floor this week, Senate Republicans will solidify their lead. Though Speaker Mike Johnson wants to bring the House GOP budget to the floor the week of Feb. 24, he’s still facing unease from some of his members — not to mention skepticism from some Senate conservatives. The House is out of Washington on recess this week.
With their one-vote margin, House GOP leadership has been pushing to include everything in one bill rather — knowing it will be harder to get their divided conference to swallow tough tax decisions without the border and energy policies included in the same bill. Senate Republicans, as well as some House hard-liners, have pushed the two-bill strategy to try to claim an early win on the border, one of Trump’s major campaign promises.
GOP senators have viewed it as increasingly likely that they would move forward this week and are preparing for a first procedural vote related to the budget resolution as soon as Tuesday. Thune, in his tweet, did not specify what day he plans to start the process.
Senate Democrats have also been quietly preparing their strategy to counter the resolution on the floor. As part of the Senate’s budget process, senators will go through an hours-long vote-a-rama, where any member who wants to force a vote on an amendment will be able to.
In a call he convened with his caucus on Saturday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer talked through areas of focus for Democratic amendments on the floor. He “urged members to remain laser-focused on exposing the Republicans’ steadfast desire to deliver tax cuts for the wealthy at the expense of American families,” according to a person familiar with the call who was granted anonymity to discuss private conversations.
Senate Budget Committee Republicans will meet Tuesday morning to talk about advancing a fiscal blueprint for a new party-line spending bill.
Chair Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) declined to say , in an interview Monday if he plans to introduce a resolution this week, noting that he was “working with leadership” and that the “first priority” is to pass a stopgap spending bill. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a panel member, said he didn’t expect the Senate to take up a budget resolution this week because “I don’t think my leadership wants to do it.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune hasn’t ruled out taking up a budget resolution but has been frank about the challenges it faces among GOP senators.
The Senate’s stopgap funding bill to avert a shutdown on Oct. 1 has cleared the first procedural hurdle, putting it on track for passage before lawmakers leave for the August recess.
Senators voted 89-4 to advance the measure, which would fund federal agencies through Dec. 11 at current levels, with some exceptions.
In order for a passage vote to happen ahead of the summer break, Senate leaders will need to strike a bipartisan time agreement to fast-track the measure to a final vote.
“It is a strong bipartisan piece of legislation, and I hope it will receive overwhelming support from both parties in the Senate,” Majority Leader John Thune said in a Monday floor speech.
Senate passage would up a potential battle with the House, because the stopgap measure the House passed two weeks ago has key differences from the Senate version. Identical versions must be passed to actually avert a shutdown at the end of the fiscal year.
The Senate measure includes language to bar the Trump administration from putting into action a plan to make political appointees in charge of approving grants, a prohibition that would last for the length of the stopgap. It also has language sought by Democrats to ensure Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement don’t get any new funding under the patch.
“The bill allows us to continue negotiating a budget that won’t leave working families behind,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday.
The White House did not respond to multiple requests for comment about if President Donald Trump supports the Senate measure. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), an appropriator and administration ally, said Monday he had spoken to Trump earlier in the day and believed the president is “comfortable” with the Senate bill.
Jordain Carney and Jennifer Scholtes contributed to this report.
Jack Smith, the former special counsel who brought criminal charges against President Donald Trump, has been invited to testify Sept. 22 before the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to an invitation from Chair Chuck Grassley reviewed by Blue Light News.
Smith previously testified before the House Judiciary Committee in January, but Grassley (R-Iowa) and his team have been probing Smith and his investigations for months.
Grassley recently revealed that Smith obtained text messages that 44 members of Congress sent to White House officials during the waning months of Trump’s first term leading up to and around the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
Grassley’s texts were among those accessed by Smith’s team, along with Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.).
“In the process of a deeply flawed, weaponized investigation, Jack Smith subpoenaed phone toll records from a dozen senators, scooped up text messages from over 40 members of Congress, and subpoenaed the private communications and financial records of hundreds of other Republican entities and individuals,” Grassley said in a statement.
“He needs to answer directly to Congress for his actions,” Grassley added. “Smith has requested to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and our committee looks forward to hearing from him as part of Congress’ investigation into Arctic Frost and his time as Special Counsel. Smith must be honest and forthcoming in his answers, because the American people deserve nothing less than full transparency and accountability.”
Lawyers for Smith did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
During the January hearing, Republicans focused on technicalities of how Smith investigated the probe into Trump’s election interference, such as whether he properly signed his oath of office and whether he was sufficiently versed on the Constitution’s “speech or debate” clause that protects members of Congress from criminal investigation for their lawmaking actions.
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