Senate Democrats Advance $3.5 Trillion Budget With No Republican Votes

Democrats in the Senate early Aug. 11 passed a $3.5 trillion budget framework with no support from Republicans, though its final passage isn’t assured.

The budget was advanced 50–49, with all votes in favor coming from Democrats or nominal independents who regularly vote with the left.

All Republicans voted against the budget except for Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), who was at the Mayo Clinic with his wife, Jean, who is undergoing cancer treatments, he said on Aug. 10.

The budget was sponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a self-described democratic socialist who is chairman of the Senate Budget Committee.

“This legislation will not only provide enormous support unprecedented in recent American history for the children in our country, for the parents in our country, to the elderly people in our country, to the working families of our country, but it will also, I hope, restore the faith of the American people in the belief that we can have a government that works for all of us and not just a few,” Sanders said on the Senate floor in Washington.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) added, “Senate Democrats just took a massive step towards restoring the middle class in the 21st century and giving Americans, more Americans, the chance to get there.”

The procedural vote followed hours of debate and consideration of amendments, starting on the afternoon of Aug. 10 and wrapping up shortly before 4 a.m. on Aug. 11.

The House of Representatives, which Democrats also control, is poised to take up the measure during the week of Aug. 23, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told colleagues this week. – READ MORE