Just after sunrise on Tuesday, the Senate began its 45th consecutive vote to continue seeking changes to President Trump’s massive domestic policy package, setting a record for the biggest so-called vote-a-rama in Senate history.
In all, senators voted 49 times, surpassing a record set in March 2008 during a budget debate. The voting lasted roughly 27 hours, from shortly after 9 a.m. Monday to minutes after noon on Tuesday. It’s not clear if that, too, was a record; the Senate does not track that figure.
Mr. Trump has directed lawmakers to deliver the bill to his desk by the Fourth of July, a deadline which all but required the marathon session of amendment votes, a process unique to the Senate that lets any member offer unlimited changes.
With three Republicans joining Democrats to oppose the final version, Vice President JD Vance cast the deciding vote to pass it. But Republicans substantially changed the bill from the version delivered to them by the House, so it will now move back there to be considered for final passage.
There is no vote-a-rama in the House. Instead, the prep work happens in the Rules Committee before the bill makes its way to the floor for final passage. That process is also known to drag on for hours: In late May, Representative Virginia Foxx, the North Carolina Republican who chairs the committee, oversaw a meeting that lasted nearly 22 hours.
The previous record for amendment votes was set on March 13, 2008, during a budget fight over fiscal year 2009 as lawmakers argued over tax cuts, spending and procedural rules under the Congressional Budget Act. That session had 44 votes.
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