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The Ben Ferguson Podcast

The 27-Hour Vote-a-Rama as Senate Passes the Most Ambitious Bill in Years

The Ben Ferguson Podcast

iHeartPodcasts

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.94.7K Ratings

🗓️ 2 July 2025

⏱️ 41 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

🏛️ Behind the Scenes of the Senate All-Nighter

  • The Senate pulled an all-nighter to pass the bill using the budget reconciliation process, which allows legislation to pass with a simple majority (50 votes) and bypass the filibuster.
  • The process involved a "vote-a-rama"—a marathon session of votes on amendments, lasting over 27 hours.
  • Senators coped with the long hours by napping in cloakrooms or hideaways, eating fast food (like McDonald's breakfast), and socializing in informal groups.

📜 Major Provisions in the Bill

  1. Extension of the 2017 Trump Tax Cuts

    • Prevents a $4 trillion tax increase that would have occurred if the cuts expired.
    • Includes new tax relief measures:
      • No tax on tips (targeting service industry workers).
      • No tax on overtime.
      • Tax relief for seniors on Social Security.
  2. Border Security

    • $150 billion investment in border infrastructure, including the wall, detention facilities, and hiring of agents.
  3. Military and Defense

    • $150 billion for military modernization, including hypersonic weapons, submarines, and missile defense systems.
    • $24 billion for the Coast Guard, including new polar icebreakers.
  4. Trump Accounts

    • New private investment accounts for every newborn, seeded with $1,000.
    • Encourages long-term savings and financial literacy.
    • Supported by major CEOs like Michael Dell, who pledged employer contributions.
  5. School Choice

    • Expanded 529 savings plans (up to $20,000/year).
    • Federal tax credit (up to $1,700) for donations to scholarship-granting organizations.
    • Aimed at increasing access to quality education, especially in underperforming school districts.
  6. Spectrum Auction

    • Mandates auctioning of 800 MHz of midband spectrum to private companies.
    • Expected to generate $100 billion and boost 6G development and job creation.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

This is an I-Heart podcast.

0:05.4

Welcome.

0:06.1

It is Verdiq with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you, and we're doing a hybrid show this

0:10.9

morning with the Ben Ferguson podcast as well, because I'm on family vacation in Cabo, but

0:15.7

when the big, beautiful bill happens, you do exactly what we're doing right now, and that

0:20.0

is give you the latest no matter where

0:21.7

we are in the world of what's happening and how we got the deal done. Senator, I have a feeling

0:27.7

you are running on a very little sleep. Did you pull the all-nighter? I definitely did. You and I

0:34.8

are recording this podcast at 1037 p.m. Texas time on Tuesday night.

0:40.2

I last slept on Sunday night. We were up at 9 a.m. Monday morning on the Senate floor, we began

0:45.9

consideration of the one big, beautiful bill. Under the reconciliation procedures, when you take up

0:52.7

reconciliation, which, as you know, you and I have talked about

0:55.9

before, is the principal exception to the Senate filibuster rule. The ordinary rule in the Senate

1:01.5

is you need 60 votes to pass legislation, but budget reconciliation is a special process

1:07.3

that you can pass legislation with only 50 votes. But part of budget reconciliation is you

1:13.9

have unlimited amendments. And that whole process is what's known as voterama. We started at 9 a.m.

1:21.1

Monday morning. We went all day Monday. We went all night Monday. We went all morning Tuesday and we finished the whole thing

1:29.1

at right about noon on Tuesday. And then I went and headed to the airport, got on a one o'clock

1:35.3

flight, flew back to Texas. I'm home tonight in Texas and have yet to go to sleep. As soon as we

1:42.0

finish this podcast, I am going, I've got a date with my bed and I

1:45.4

intend to be unconscious very, very soon. I feel bad for you, but welcome to how the sauces

1:50.4

is made. So I have a lot of questions. I know everybody else is wanted to ask the same thing.

...

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