‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ clears 1st procedural hurdle 51-49 after dramatic vote that lasted almost 4 hours
The Senate voted to advance the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” kicking off a lengthy process that GOP leadership hopes will end in its final passage.
For much of the night, it was believed that Vice President JD Vance would be required to cast a tie-breaking vote.
But at the last minute, Sen. Ron Johnson switched his no vote to a yes, giving Republican senators the votes they needed to advance the legislation.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer also made official his request for the clerk to read the roughly 1,000 page bill in its entirely. She started at 11:08 p.m.
It could take her 15 hours to read every line, according to estimates.
Just because Senate Republicans mustered up the votes to get the process going doesn’t mean they’re in the clear.
There are a number of Republican senators who said they’d vote to advance the bill today but have not committed to casting a vote on final passage.