Senate Republicans voted to adopt a budget blueprint early Friday morning that differs sharply from the plan advanced by the House. After an all-night work session, the Senate voted 52-48 to first bolster funding for immigration enforcement, national security and energy production, and then deal with more complicated issues like tax policy in a separate legislative package. Worried about their razor-thin majority and eager to appease President Donald Trump, who has called for “one big beautiful bill,” House Republicans prefer to include tax measures in a single, more expansive budget bill. That means the legislation will eventually have to go through a reconciliation process that experts say could be long and contentious, potentially revealing rifts within the GOP. All Senate Republicans except Rand Paul of Kentucky agreed on the budget framework that advanced just before 5am Friday. During the late-night “vote-a-rama,” Democrats also forced a number of votes, including amendments to: block tax cuts for billionaires while food prices remain high, lower housing costs by preventing hedge funds from buying single family homes, and prevent Elon Musk’s DOGE from accessing Americans’ private data. Republicans voted down all three measures.
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