Thune soft-pedals adding Trump’s request for debt limit curveball to GOP budget bill

Published July 28, 2026 10:07pm ET



Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) raised doubts Tuesday on whether there was sufficient GOP support for President Donald Trump’s push to lift the debt ceiling through the latest party-line spending proposal.

Thune told reporters that adding a provision to lift the borrowing cap would complicate the already narrow math for passing the $95 billion budget framework, which includes new defense spending and money for voter integrity initiatives. Republicans want to pass the bill through budget reconciliation, a parliamentary procedure that allows some tax and spending measures to skirt the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster threshold.

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