Senate Republicans are resisting President Trump’s demand that Congress pass a $350 billion defense spending bill through budget reconciliation, citing exhaustion from recent legislative marathons and political risks heading into the 2026 midterm elections.
Trump called on Republicans to immediately pass a third reconciliation package that would add the Pentagon funding on top of his administration’s pending $1.5 trillion defense budget request, according to reporting from Politico and other outlets. But top GOP appropriators are signaling the demand faces steep obstacles.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) told reporters on Thursday that she remains convinced reconciliation is not the best approach and that it would be very difficult to get a third reconciliation bill approved, according to The Hill. Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee Chair Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) went further, stating at a hearing on the Air Force budget: “I think it’s safe to conclude there will not be another reconciliation bill,” according to Federal News Network.
GOP senators point to the grueling experience of last week’s vote-a-rama, the rapid-fire amendment voting process used during reconciliation. Senate Republicans just slogged through an overnight 18-hour series of votes to pass a $70 billion package funding immigration enforcement operations, according to The Hill. That marathon left many members exhausted and frustrated.
“We don’t want to have another vote-a-rama. The last vote-a-rama about broke our backs. It was way too long,” an anonymous Republican senator told The Hill. The senator noted that none of the amendments proposed for the last reconciliation package were adopted, and the process only highlighted divisions among Republicans over controversial provisions like Trump’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund.
Vulnerable Republican incumbents facing tough reelection races have little appetite for another round of politically damaging votes. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) warned that forcing vulnerable GOP incumbents to run through another budget reconciliation debate will only make their reelection races more difficult. “A lot of races that shouldn’t be in play are in play,” he said of Democrats’ growing chances of capturing the Senate in the midterm election, according to The Hill.
Conservative budget hawks also present an obstacle. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) wants to offset the entire cost of the bill with other spending cuts, complicating efforts to assemble a package. Additionally, there is strong skepticism within the Senate GOP conference over whether they could even muster 50 votes amid public disapproval of the military conflict with Iran and growing concerns over federal debt and deficits, according to The Hill.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said that Trump’s call for Republicans to rely on budget reconciliation once again to circumvent Democratic opposition faces big hurdles. “I think another round of reconciliation is going to be very, very, very challenging,” she said. Murkowski was the only Republican senator to vote against the reconciliation package the Senate passed last week to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol through 2029.
The Pentagon’s plans depend on receiving the full $350 billion to execute key modernization efforts. Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Collins noted that the department is taking a “terrible risk” when relying on a third reconciliation bill for the bulk of the money rather than seeking funding through the annual defense appropriations bill, according to Federal News Network. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink acknowledged that if the department does not get the total request, prioritization will have to be done within the budget it does receive.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) acknowledged this week that the reason to use budget reconciliation to advance another $350 billion in defense is that Democrats will likely block any supplemental defense funding package that GOP leaders try to move through the regular appropriations process. Regular spending bills need 60 votes to advance, giving Democrats leverage. “We know we’ve got to do more for defense. The question is, ‘What would the Democrats be for?'” Thune said, according to The Hill.
Sources
- The Hill — Senate GOP resistance to third reconciliation bill, vulnerable incumbents’ concerns, Cornyn and Murkowski comments
- Federal News Network — McConnell and Collins statements on third reconciliation bill, Pentagon funding risks
- Politico — Trump’s demand for $350 billion defense spending
- Fox News — Trump’s call for third reconciliation bill with defense spending
