Signature Republican Bill Heads to Final Votes – GovTrack.us

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Signature Republican Bill Heads to Final Votes

June 30, 2025 · by Amy West and Joshua Tauberer
Signature Republican Bill Heads to Final Votes

The House is out this week, at least that’s what the calendar says. The Senate currently tentatively also has itself as out this week, but Senate Majority Leader Thune says he still intends to get the Republican’s signature bill, H.R. 1: One Big Beautiful Bill Act, through the Senate and passed back to the House with a goal of it getting to the President for signature by July 4. That most likely means everybody will be coming in this week.

What’s in the bill? We’re not entirely sure. At 940 pages, it’s hard to know, and significant changes may be made right up until the Senate votes. The latest text would increase the statutory limit on the national debt by $5 trillion (about 14%) and the Congressional Budget Office projects it would add $3.3 trillion to the national debt over 10 years, mostly from re-enacting President Trump’s 2017 tax cuts which are expiring, as well as increased spending on the military ($150 billion) and border security and immigration detention ($90 billion). The biggest savings are from reducing higher education loans (saving $270 billion) and food assistance (saving $186 billion).
The “Reconciliation” Bill

H.R. 1 is the so-called “reconciliation bill” which under special rules means it can be passed by a simple majority in the Senate, rather than the usual 3/5ths needed to end a filibuster.

To meet the rules for the simple majority, the bill must not contain provisions that are extraneous to budgetary issues. That’s informally called the Byrd Rule. The Congressional Research Service goes into more detail: the Senate Parliamentarian reviews the bill text and provides advisory opinions on which provisions would be extraneous. (That’s what was happening last week, more on that below.) Then, either the majority party can cut or revise those provisions. (Or they could change the rules, which we discussed previously.)

Here’s a guide to where we are in the long reconciliation process:

Pass budget resolutions in each chamber which set general caps on spending – done

Pass a bill in the House that specifies exactly how the money gets spent – done

Senate Parliamentarian reviews the bill and any proposed changes by senators for compliance with Byrd Rule – we are here

Pass the bill in the Senate – not done

If the Senate makes changes, which is expected, or even rewrites the entire bill, it goes to back to the House for another vote (or, less likely, a conference committee) – not done

Send to the President for signing – not done.

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