Tuesday’s closed-door GOP lunch became a last-ditch push to line up votes for a Senate budget blueprint, with leaders still unsure they can bring a resolution to the floor this week.
John Thune said the Senate may need to stay through the weekend or return next week because budget work is colliding with other priorities, especially a stopgap government funding patch.
Ron Johnson, who chairs the Budget Committee, said he was still working with leadership and would not say whether he would release a resolution this week — a required step before the chamber can move ahead.
The vote count is further complicated by hard-liners pressing for action on the SAVE America Act, with Roger Marshall saying he would object to adjournment if the Senate leaves without passing the elections bill.
The standoff leaves Republicans balancing their party-line budget ambitions against funding deadlines, Senate rules concerns and the possible delay of the chamber’s planned five-week recess.