The Senate’s top Democrat intends to inflict maximum pain on Senate Republicans as they rush to pass President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” before lawmakers have a chance to debate it.
Indeed, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., intends to require clerks on the Senate floor to read the entire 940-page GOP megabill.
His move to squander as much time as possible will occur after Republicans vote on a critical procedural test to begin debate on the bill.
“I will object to Republicans moving forward on their Big, Ugly Bill without reading it on the Senate floor,” Schumer said during the program. “Republicans will not tell America what is in the bill.
“So Democrats are forcing it to be read start to finish on the floor,” according to him. “We will be here all night if that’s what it takes to read it.”
Staffers were seen carrying the bill to the Senate floor in preparation for the all-night read-a-thon.
Schumer’s move is expected to take up to 15 hours and is intended to give Senate Democrats more time to sort through the numerous provisions in the massive legislative text.
Ultimately, it will serve as a smokescreen as Senate Republicans press for a final vote.
Once the bill is read, 20 hours of debate, evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, will begin, most likely on Sunday morning. Democrats are expected to use the entire 10-hour period, whereas Republicans will use far less time.
Then comes the “vote-a-rama” process, in which lawmakers may propose an unlimited number of amendments to the bill.
Democrats will once again try to extract as much pain as possible from the process, while Republicans, particularly senators who have lingering concerns about key Medicaid and land sale provisions, will continue to try to shape and mould the bill.
The last time clerks were required to read the entirety of a bill during the budget reconciliation process was in 2021, when Senate Democrats controlled the upper chamber.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., demanded that the entire American Rescue Act, which numbered over 600 pages, be read aloud. Schumer, the Senate Majority Leader attempting to push then-President Joe Biden’s agenda through the upper chamber, objected to the reading.
