The Senate was churning through amendments in a marathon voting session that began Thursday evening and stretched into early Friday on a GOP-drafted budget resolution that would pave the way for a filibuster-proof border security, defense and energy package.
Republicans were virtually guaranteed to steamroll past Democratic opposition because only a simple majority is needed to adopt the fiscal 2025 blueprint, and the GOP holds 53 seats.
But Democrats hoped to make the process as long and as painful as possible. They filed hundreds of amendments designed to express their opposition to a budget reconciliation plan that could ultimately require deep cuts in federal spending to finance the extension of expiring tax cuts that they say mostly favor the wealthy.
