: Senate Committee on the Budget Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is unveiling on Wednesday the upper chamber’s changes to a House-passed budget resolution in a breakthrough for getting President Donald Trump’s key agenda items through Congress.
With the Senate’s latest action, Republicans’ much-anticipated budget reconciliation resolution is one step closer to passage, in what would be a huge win for Trump and the GOP.
The Senate amendment includes raising the debt ceiling in the key budget process by no more than $5 trillion. This has been a request of Trump since before he took office the second time. The date estimated for a potential default has been inching closer, presenting a looming problem for Republicans in the Senate.
Republicans who argued to include the debt ceiling in reconciliation said it would prevent Democrats from having leverage down the road, when a vote to raise it would need 60 votes, forcing them to lobby Democrats for support.
The amendment also stipulates that the provision to raise the debt ceiling can be voted on separate from the rest of the resolution, in the case that the ‘X Date,’ when the Treasury is unable to meet its financial obligations without intervention, is set to arrive sooner than Republicans are prepared to vote on the entire reconciliation package.
Reconciliation notably lowers the vote threshold in the Senate from 60 to 51, allowing Republicans to move legislation through without Democrat support. This is viewed as a key tool for the Republican trifecta in Washington to get Trump’s policies passed.
The Senate amendment would further make the House’s proposed extension of the Trump tax cuts permanent, doing so by using a current policy baseline that allows budget projections to be made in what some view as a more practical and realistic way.
Senate Republicans also avoid needing the parliamentarian to make a ruling, which could have presented issues. They are relying on the authority given by statute to the budget chairman to set the current policy baseline.
The amendment’s release comes after countless meetings between key parties to the budget process, including Trump, House leaders, Senate leaders and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
On Wednesday morning, Trump met with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Budget Committee Republicans ahead of the amendment text coming out.
The White House discussion was meant to be a final check-in to make sure all parties were on the same page, a source familiar told Fox News Digital.