Capping a tumultuous night, the Republican-controlled US Senate advanced President Donald Trump’s package of tax breaks, spending cuts and increased deportation money, with more weekend work ahead as Congress races to meet his Fourth of July deadline for passage.
By a 51-49 tally and with vice president JD Vance at the Capitol to break a potential tie, the Senate cleared a key procedural step on Saturday as midnight approached.
Voting had come to a standstill, dragging on for more than three hours, with holdout senators huddling for negotiations and taking private meetings off the Senate floor.
In the end, two Republicans opposed the motion to move ahead on Mr Trump’s signature domestic policy plan, joining all 47 Democrats.
“Tonight we saw a GREAT VICTORY in the Senate,” Mr Trump said in a social media post afterwards.
Republicans are using their majorities in Congress to push aside Democratic opposition, but they have run into a series of political and policy setbacks.
Not all Republicans are on board with proposals to reduce spending on Medicaid, food stamps and other programmes as a way to help cover the cost of extending some 3.8 trillion dollars (£2.77 trillion) in Trump tax breaks.
Mr Trump had threatened to campaign against one Republican, senator Thom Tillis, who had announced he could not support the Bill because of Medicaid cuts that he worried would leave many without health care in his state.
A new analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the Senate version of the Bill would increase by 11.8 million the number of people without health insurance in 2034.
Mr Tillis and senator Rand Paul voted no.
Renewed pressure to oppose the 940-page bill came from billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, who called it “utterly insane and destructive”.
Ahead for senators now will be an all-night debate and amendments. If they are able to pass it, the Bill would return to the House for a final round of votes before it could reach the White House.
With the narrow Republican majorities in the House and Senate, leaders need almost every lawmaker on board.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Republicans released the bill “in the dead of night” on Friday and were rushing through before the public fully knew what was in it.
He forced a full reading of the text that began late on Saturday and continued into Sunday morning.
At its core, the legislation would make permanent many of the tax breaks from Mr Trump’s first term that would otherwise expire by year’s end if Congress fails to act, resulting in a potential tax increase on Americans.
The Bill would add new breaks, including no taxes on tips, and commit 350 billion dollars (£255 billion) to national security, including for Mr Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
But the cutbacks to Medicaid, food stamps and green energy investments are also causing dissent within republican ranks.
Senator Ron Wyden said the environmental rollbacks would amount to a “death sentence” for America’s wind and solar industries.
