NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Tonight is crunch time for the Big, Beautiful Bill.
Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough made multiple rulings about provisions that can remain or must be stripped from the package to comply with strict Senate budget guidelines. Republicans will discuss the contours of the bill tonight and likely put the formalized legislation together tomorrow or Wednesday.
“We’ll know more tonight because (senators) will understand what’s in the bill,” said one Senate Republican.
Fox counts that there are about seven Republicans who are potential no votes. It’s about the math. The Senate can lose up to three Republicans and still pass the bill with a tie-breaking vote by Vice President JD Vance.
President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social Sunday that there was great “unity” in the Republican Party and that it was time to pass the “Great Big Beautiful Bill.”
TRUMP RECEIVES MIXED SUPPORT FROM CONGRESS FOR IRAN STRIKES AS WAR POWERS DEBATE
The U.S. Capitol is bathed in the setting sun and seen in the reflecting pool on Capitol Hill in Washington on Nov. 12, 2010. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
But there is also an effort to push back consideration of the bill beyond July 4. But senior Senate GOP sources say that’s a non-starter.
“You have to give a deadline. Otherwise, this goes on and on,” said the source.
But what about those potential no votes?
“It’s Monday,” said one Republican senator. “They talk big because it’s Monday.”
But the GOP brass expects at least some reluctant Republicans to come around after the meetings tonight and early tomorrow.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., talks with reporters in the U.S. Capitol after the House passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on Thursday, May 22, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc )
Fox is told that Republican leaders can work with up to five GOP nays at this stage. However, 10 nays would require substantial legislative surgery.
“There still must be some conservative wins coming out of the Senate. Those conservative wins were cut by the parliamentarian,” said one GOP source familiar with the process.
AFTER MINNESOTA KILLING, CAPITOL HILL REPRESENTATIVES FACE STARK REALITY ABOUT FAMILY SAFETY
Fox was told one thing which could encourage GOP senators to support the bill are adjustments to the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage, known as FMAP.
“They’re a long way away from the finish line right now,” said one source who was skeptical of the Senate wrapping this up quickly.
That said, here’s the potential timetable:
The Senate takes a procedural vote to get onto “budget reconciliation” (that’s the process used to avoid a filibuster) Wednesday or Thursday. However, Fox was told this could slip to Friday.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune speaks during a news conference following the weekly Senate Republican policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on June 17, 2025, in Washington. (Getty Images)
Budget rules then allow 20 hours of debate on the package itself.
Then, the Senate goes to a vote-a-rama. That’s the lengthy, round-the-clock voting session where the Senate takes roll call vote after roll call vote. It culminates in a final vote on the bill.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
If the Senate adheres to this timetable, it’s possible the Senate could conclude the bill over the weekend or even in the wee hours of Monday morning. It is impossible right now to judge when the Senate would conclude the process. But it could come in the middle of the night or wee hours of the morning this weekend or early next week.
That meets the July 4th deadline.
Kind of.
No sources with whom Fox spoke saw a universe where the House could then immediately sync up with the Senate on the bill by the Fourth of July. Fox is told that’s likely a project for the week of July 6 – if not beyond.
Remember the real deadline is early August. That’s when the U.S. is set to hit the debt ceiling. A debt ceiling increase is included in the bill.
Chad Pergram currently serves as a senior congressional correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC). He joined the network in September 2007 and is based out of Washington, D.C.
