Senate Narrowly Passes the “One Big Beautiful Bill”—But the Fight Isn’t Over

H.R.1, or “The One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” passed the Senate 51-50 Tuesday morning, after 24 hours of intense debate and voting sessions on proposed amendments. The Senate even hit a new record, voting on 45 amendments throughout the night. Vice President J.D. Vance was the tiebreaker in the final passage vote. 

Given the slim margins, Republicans could only afford to lose three votes and still pass the bill—those three votes were Senators Paul Rand (R-KY), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and Susan Collins (R-ME). Their reasoning was the steep addition of trillions to the national debt, and Medicaid cuts they felt went too far. 

By all accounts, the bill was pushed over the finish line with the help of Lisa Murkowski (AK), who was a holdout throughout the process due to the cuts to social safety net programs like SNAP. In the end, Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) worked with Murkowski to secure carveouts for Alaska, and a few other states with “high error rates” in providing SNAP benefits, temporarily exempting them from SNAP cuts. 

Other changes included a special fund for rural hospitals—which faced worrying cuts in the bill and was likely a holdout for some Senators—boosted to $50 billion, up from $25 billion. Another major sticking point, clean energy, saw changes: the provision to ban solar leasing for clean energy tax credits was removed, as well as an excise tax on wind and solar projects. 

So, what comes next? 

The bill will now go back to the House for final passage, where it’s likely to face some issues, one of which is attendance. With the holiday weekend and storms on the East Coast, an expected Wednesday vote with full attendance could prove difficult, with delayed flights causing a potential hiccup. 

The House Rules Committee reviewed the bill this morning to push it through to the larger group. GOP leaders are reportedly anticipating two sets of votes: one procedural to pass the rule, and the second for final passage. Democrats still have the ability to attempt a delay in bringing the bill to the floor for a vote, based on how many lawmakers can be swayed one way or another. According to CNN, some House Republicans are discussing whether they can block the bill from coming to the floor at all. This would require voting down the so-called “rule vote” that would come before final passage of the bill. Political pressure from President Trump and Speaker Johnson may render this just hearsay. 

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise is warning his party that changing anything about the bill could be “what collapses the entire thing”, but a few legislators are still unsure about the bill’s chances in the House. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has said he’s unsure if his colleagues in the House have the votes to pass it, and Speaker Johnson has said he’s “not happy with what the Senate did to our product”. 

Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) told reporters on Tuesday, outside the Rules committee that the House should send the bill back and go home. 

It remains to be seen whether or not the bill will get the final passage before President Trump’s target date of July 4th. Similar to the Senate, Speaker Johnson can reportedly only afford to lose three or four votes—if all members are present for the vote, that is. Let’s hope that the representatives' overnight drives go smoothly, and voting isn’t delayed.  

We can't say at the moment whether or not there will be changes in the next few hours or days. As of today, Wednesday at 1:00 PM, there’s been no vote and discussions are ongoing. We’ll be back on Wednesday of next week, whether the bill passes or not, to give you an update. In the meantime, head over to our blog to see what’s in and what’s out of the Senate version of the bill (so far), the Medicaid and Medicare changes that are anticipated, and how the Senate’s finance plan impacts PA. 

We’ll be doing another full breakdown of the bill’s changes and what Pennsylvania should expect when we learn the fate of the One Big Beautiful Bill. Stay tuned, and have a safe Fourth of July. 

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