Senate sets record for longest vote-a-rama as Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' teeters

Senators voted on amendments and negotiated with one another all night long Monday, as President Donald Trump's megabill struggled to win enough support in the upper chamber to advance, and the president's second-term domestic priorities hung in the balance.

By early Tuesday morning, the Senate had held 45 votes over about 24 hours, surpassing a previous vote-a-rama record set in 2008, of 44 votes.

Trump's "one, big, beautiful bill" could soon face a pivotal test in the Senate, following days of tense negotiations, shifting alliances and 11th-hour tweaks to the sprawling package.

Republican leadership on Tuesday morning was still working to cobble together support from enough of its members to get the megabill across the finish line and on to the House ahead of a self-imposed July 4 deadline.

Trump signaled openness Tuesday to delaying the July 4 deadline — after pressing that timeline for weeks — saying that he'd "love to do July 4, but I think it's very hard to do July 4."

"I would think maybe July 4, but somewhere around there," Trump said at the White House, after lawmakers worked through the night on the bill.

Vice President JD Vance arrived at the U.S. Capitol early Tuesday morning, typically a sign that a final Senate vote on the package could be near. But an hour later there was still no indication of possible timing of a vote.

Given Republicans' extremely narrow majority — and the firm GOP holdouts — Vance may need to cast the tie-breaking vote for his conference.

A final vote on the package cannot take place until lawmakers are done introducing amendments to the bill, a process that has stretched nearly 24 hours — and is still ongoing.

Senators, mostly Democrats, have introduced dozens of amendments targeting virtually every aspect of the megabill, from Medicaid and Medicare to clean energy credits and other key provisions.

Republicans have repeatedly relied on their narrow majority to defeat attempts by Democrats to alter the bill using amendments.

While the vote tally on the amendments fell largely along party lines, some Democratic-led revisions garnered Republican support and vice versa.

Sen. Ed Markey, Mass., sought to remove language from the bill that would, as he put it, "force rural hospitals to limit their services or actually close their doors" due to cuts to Medicaid or Medicare. Republicans Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska both crossed the aisle and voted with Democrats for Markey's amendment.

Later in the day on Monday, four Democratic senators from battleground states — Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock of Georgia, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire — all voted with Republicans on an amendment that would cut Medicaid funding to states that provide benefits to undocumented immigrants who have been charged with certain crimes.

Senators are allowed to introduce unlimited amendments to a budget bill. Typically, the lion's share of introduced amendments don't make it into the final bill. But that's not always the point.

Amendments are also frequently used to send a political message, or to highlight various senators' opposition to, or support for, different parts of a big legislative package like this one.

For example, Democrats hope to force Republicans to cast individual votes in favor of some of the more controversial parts of the bill, like changes to Medicaid and ending tax credits for electric vehicles.

That record of a Republican senator's support for a lightning rod issue can be used by Democrats in attack ads the next time that senator is up for reelection.

Thune presides over a narrow, three-seat majority, so he can only afford to lose three votes in the final ballot and still pass the package with a tiebreaker vote from Vance.

Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Rand Paul of Kentucky have already both said they plan to vote against it.

Even if Thune is able to get the bill through his chamber this week, it still faces an uncertain path in the House, where lawmakers must approve the revisions made by the upper chamber.

Some House Republicans have already signaled objections to changes in the Senate version of the legislation.

House Republican leadership, for its part, has told its members to prepare for votes on the package Tuesday or Wednesday, a timeline that appears increasingly fleeting.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.