The Senate scrapped plans to vote on a party-line spending blueprint that funds the war in Iran and includes President Donald Trump‘s election integrity priorities on Friday, avoiding a doomed effort that would have delivered Republicans a setback just as the upper chamber prepared to leave for a five-week recess.Instead, conservative Sens. Ron Johnson (R-WI), Rick Scott (R-FL), and Mike Lee (R-UT), who were set to force the vote, told reporters they spoke with Trump and that he agreed on punting the legislation until they return in September to allow more time for GOP negotiations.The blueprint would have bypassed the 60-vote filibuster using the rules of budget reconciliation, the process utilized by Republicans last year to pass Trump’s tax bill into law and earlier this year for an immigration package. But the third bill has faced GOP resistance over its attempt to include elements of the SAVE America Act, an election security measure that is opposed by some centrists. Defense hawks also want to see more Pentagon funding included in the legislation.
A vote was initially set to be held in the face of pressure from Trump and those like Johnson, the Senate Budget Committee chairman and a lead author of the budget framework. He and conservative allies have made a relentless push for Republicans to advance it prior to the recess.“When we have the finest among us — the men and women in our armed services — in harm’s way, it is beyond unfortunate that providing support for their efforts and protection has turned into a partisan issue,” Johnson said in a statement that accompanied release of the blueprint earlier in the day. “The same can be said for supporting farmers, our intelligence services, and election integrity.”The proposal, which would allow Congress to increase the deficit by up to $150 billion, also includes billions in assistance for farmers and instructs 11 different committees. About $60 billion in the resolution is for the Pentagon and its war efforts in Iran, below what many Republicans would prefer and well shy of the $350 billion the White House is seeking. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., confer before joining other conservative Republicans to complain to reporters about the interim spending bill being crafted to avoid a shutdown of federal agencies, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
