Senate adopts budget that paves way for $3.5T spending plan

Senate Democrats adopted a budget measure early Wednesday morning to deliver their next filibuster-proof ticket to passing major legislation against the will of their GOP colleagues.

After more than 14 hours of continuous amendment votes, the chamber adopted on party lines a 92-page framework for Democrats’ $3.5 trillion package of climate and social initiatives, including subsidized child care, expanded Medicare and paid family and medical leave benefits. Once both chambers have approved the budget instructions, it will unlock the reconciliation process, which empowers the majority party to eventually clear the final bill with just 51 votes in the Senate, rather than the usual 60-vote hurdle.

After the 50-49 vote Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the move “a massive step towards restoring the middle class” and giving “more Americans the chance to get there.”

“Democrats have labored for months to reach this point, and there are many labors to come. But I can say with absolute certainty that it will be worth doing,” Schumer said. “The Democratic budget will bring a generational transformation to how our economy works for average Americans.”

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said the lower chamber will return from recess early in order to vote during the week of Aug. 23 on the budget resolution, which instructs a swath of committees to begin drafting the pieces of President Joe Biden’s plan by the flexible deadline of Sept. 15.

The final Senate vote Wednesday on the budget resolution, which concluded just before 4 a.m., followed a classic vote-a-rama — an amendment barrage that allows the GOP to force the majority party into a series of uncomfortable votes. To make their Democratic colleagues suffer for sidelining GOP input on the $3.5 trillion plan, Republican senators called for dozens of amendment votes on issues like critical race theory, defunding the police, immigration enforcement and using federal money to cover abortions.

Senators even had extra padding on their chairs to make the ordeal more comfortable, as they sat through the last major legislative hurrah before departing for the August recess, which was already supposed to be underway.

More than three dozen Democrats joined with Republicans in a 88-11 vote to adopt a nonbinding amendment that supports barring immigrants from being transported from the border unless they test negative for Covid.

“We have a super-spreader event at our southern border every single day,” said Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), the amendment’s author. “It is unacceptable for the government to be transporting illegal migrants who pose a grave risk of transmitting Covid across our nation.”

The Senate rejected an amendment by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), however, that called for “expulsions” of immigrants “who may contribute to the spread” of Covid. The chamber also batted down a proposal from Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) that called for denying U.S. resident status to immigrants who have criminal records. Both of those amendments fell 49-50, with all Democrats opposed.

The amendment marathon was the Senate’s third this year, after Democrats deployed the reconciliation process to pass Biden’s $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package in March.

The latest torment follows the long-awaited release of Democrats’ $3.5 trillion budget framework on Monday — a price tag that might ultimately have to come down to appease Senate moderates.

Before the $3.5 trillion plan can be sent off to Biden in the coming months, the Senate will have to endure at least one more vote-a-rama. That task could potentially be more painful than the amendment spree this week, since trillions of dollars in Democratic priorities will be closer to the finish line and senators will be proposing tweaks to a much fuller legislative text than the budget framework currently under consideration.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), speaking on the floor for the first time since his breakthrough Covid infection, said the $3.5 trillion plan is “a dream for those who want to socialize” the United States and that “America as we know it is at risk in this budget resolution.”

After midnight, the Senate voted 50-49 to adopt an amendment by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) to take a stance against teaching "critical race theory" in schools. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) joined Republicans in voting in support of that proposal.

Democrats joined Republicans in unanimously adopting a non-binding provision, offered by Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), to reject any effort under the Green New Deal that would “ship” U.S. jobs overseas, send electricity and gas prices “soaring” or make the nation “increasingly dependent on foreign supply chains.”

Senate Budget Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said he had “no problem” supporting the GOP amendment because it “has nothing to do with the Green New Deal!”

Democrats sidestepped more drama by unanimously backing a Republican amendment from Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) that opposed defunding the police. In a moment of levity before the vote, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) voiced enthusiastic approval, stressing that all senators should go on the record about their support for funding the police, their belief “in God, country and apple pie.”

In the same vein, nearly every Democrat backed a GOP amendment that would prohibit tax hikes in violation of Biden’s pledge to not raise taxes on people making less than $400,000 per year.

The Senate narrowly adopted a Republican messaging amendment aimed at preserving a longstanding ban on federal funding for abortion, which House Democrats eliminated from their annual spending bills this year. Manchin, a longtime supporter of the so-called Hyde amendment, was the only Democrat to break ranks and support the provision.

Lawmakers unanimously adopted a provision from Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) that targets a Democratic plan to go after dynastic wealth. The amendment opposes an end to the tax exemption that allows the wealthy to pass assets on to heirs tax-free by forgiving capital gains taxes on things like company stock and land when people die. The Biden administration is proposing to allow farms and small businesses to postpone paying the tax until the business or farm is sold or ceases to be family-owned and operated.

"Changing this would hit generations in rural communities and force families to pay off part of the farm or business to pay the new tax,” Thune said.

Every senator also backed an amendment from Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) that seeks to recognize the law enforcement officers who fought and died protecting the Capitol Building during the Jan. 6 insurrection. In addition to the death of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick following the attack, four law enforcement officers who responded to the Capitol that day have since died by suicide.

"The insurrection at the Capitol was more than an assault on Democracy," Klobuchar said on the floor, "it was an actual life-or-death situation for the many brave law enforcement officers who show up here to work every single day."

Earlier Tuesday, the Senate voted 69-30 to pass a $550 billion bipartisan infrastructure bill. Democratic leaders have pledged to move the infrastructure package and their party-line reconciliation measure along two tracks at the same time, tying together the success of both bills.

Democrats’ multitrillion-dollar spending package would bolster Medicare to cover vision, dental and hearing benefits for seniors. It aims to extend Medicaid to Americans in Republican-led states that have refused to expand the health program for low-income individuals. And it would keep new Obamacare subsidies, too, and make in-home care available to more people.

To help offset the cost of the plan, Democrats are proposing to raise taxes on top earners, corporations, overseas profits and capital gains.

The measure also instructs the Senate Judiciary Committee to find a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. That directive could ultimately run into resistance from the Senate parliamentarian — the upper chamber’s procedural referee — who will decide which provisions pass muster with certain reconciliation restrictions.

Democrats did not include a debt ceiling increase in their budget resolution, instead daring Republicans to reject a bipartisan solution to the cap on the nation’s borrowing authority. In a letter released on Tuesday, 46 Senate Republicans promised to oppose a debt limit hike.

The Treasury Department is expected to run out of money sometime from September to November.

Toby Eckert contributed to this report.