Trump’s ‘significant, impressive legislation’ passes crucial Senate milestone following intense drama.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) speaks at a press conference following the U.S. Senate Republicans’ weekly policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 10, 2025. Kent Nishimura | Reuters President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” cleared a key procedural hurdle in the U.S. Senate late Saturday night, pushing the massive spending package one step closer to the president’s desk.

The vote on a motion to proceed to final debate on the bill passed with 51 yeas and 49 nays. Every Democrat and two Republicans, Sens. Thom Tillis, N.C., and Rand Paul, Ky., voted against it.

The actual voting took hours, and the measure only passed after three Republican holdouts — Sens. Mike Lee of Utah, Rick Scott of Florida, and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming — ultimately voted yes. Sen. Ron Johnson, Wis., an outspoken critic of the bill, changed his vote from “no” to “yes.” This additional Republican support gave the bill 51 yeas, so Vice President JD Vance did not need to cast a vote to break a tie.

The ultimate passage was a victory for Republican Majority Leader John Thune, S.D., who has pledged to get the bill to Trump for his signature by July 4. However, the hours of uncertainty and last-minute wrangling underscore the tricky path ahead for this controversial package.

Saturday’s procedural vote sets up a final Senate vote on the megabill that will likely occur sometime Sunday or Monday. Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, are requiring the 940-page bill to be read aloud once it heads to full debate on the Senate floor Sunday. “We will be here all night if that’s what it takes to read it,” Schumer wrote Saturday on social media.

While the package cannot officially pass the upper chamber until the final vote, the procedural vote was considered a significant test for Thune.

This vote follows weeks of turmoil and tension over the massive package, exposing bitter policy disputes and emboldening firm Republican holdouts. The sweeping domestic policy package will also need to be approved again in the House, which just narrowly passed its own version of the bill last month.

Some House Republicans have already expressed opposition to key elements of the Senate version of the bill — most notably, deep cuts to Medicaid — likely foreshadowing a close vote in the lower chamber.

Both Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson maintain narrow majorities in their respective chambers, meaning they can only afford to lose the support of a small number of Republican lawmakers to pass the package in a party-line vote.

Meanwhile, Trump continues to urge lawmakers to pass the package before the Republicans’ self-imposed July 4 deadline. “President Trump is committed to keeping his promises, and failure to pass this bill would be the ultimate betrayal,” the White House stated in a policy announcement on Saturday.