Senate Majority Leader Plans Epic Weekend Showdown on Big, Beautiful Bill

This may well be a showdown reminiscent of an old Western, with holstered sixguns in the dusty main drag at high noon - or at least, a metaphorical equivalent. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) is determined to force a vote on the famous "Big, Beautiful Bill" by this weekend, several days ahead of the oft-mentioned Independence Day goal.

May he have good luck with that.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune expects to start voting Friday on President Trump's "one big, beautiful bill," he told Axios in an exclusive interview on Tuesday.

Why it matters:This would have them voting into the weekend, and it would upend the House's recess next week. But Thune (R-S.D.) is confident Congress will meet its self-imposed July 4 deadline to get a bill on Trump's desk.

Frankly, if it messes up their weekend, the Senators should be prepared to suck it up and work right on through, as many Americans do, all the time, when on a tight deadline. 

The Senate Majority Leader, we are relieved to see, has been in contact with his counterpart in the House, because Senate passage of this isn't the end; the House would have to have at least one more vote, on the Senate version, and some key differences in the House and Senate versions may cause problems:

Driving the news:Thune huddled with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) around midday on Tuesday.

• Minutes before that meeting, Thune told Axios he hadn't chatted with Johnson recently about the bill, saying "we've kind of had our noses to the grindstone."
• House leadership has reportedly told people they are worried about being able to pass the Senate's version of the bill. Changes to the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction and Medicaid provider taxes are the biggest concerns.
• On SALT, Thune said he "knew that would be the last issue to get resolved, which it will be."

A vote on Thursday will likely only be the first vote; there will doubtless be many. The House, fortunately, looks ready to clear leather as soon as the Senate holds its final vote.

Zoom in: Thune said Friday was looking more likely for an initial vote than Thursday, setting up the potential for a weekend slog.

• "I think we get on it, and then we will plow through, and we'll get into vote-a-rama and grind it out until —  until whenever," the leader said.
• "It's just the nature of the beast at the end."
• Johnson told House Republicans "not to leave town" this weekend in case the Senate gets a bill passed, Politico reported Tuesday.

About this being the "nature of the beast," well, Senator Thune's not wrong.

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Senate Parliamentarian Is Doing the Dems' Bidding in Striking Major Portions of 'One Big Beautiful Bill'

But this is a bill unlike most. It's vast in scope and contains a lot that Democrats will oppose until their last breaths, probably because they'd be good for the American economy. We can expect that, up until the final trump (hah) that the Dems will be picking through the BBB, finding one thing or another to object to, one thing or another to try to get struck from the Senate version.

And if the House GOP refuses to pass the Senate version of the bill? 

Much will depend on who's quickest on the draw.

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