Recently, Senate Republicans passed a budget resolution to match the resolution passed by the House. The new budget expands the tax cuts implemented in 2017 and funding for national and energy security.
Before its passage, a number of amendments to the bill came up for vote. Notably, Senators Jon Ossoff (D) and Raphael Warnock (D) attempted to amend the bill.
These amendments aimed to lessen the severity of cuts to services like social security. When they came up to vote, Republicans voted them down and passed the resolution as it was.
Senator Ossoff’s amendment would have reversed the cuts to the social security administration. Senator Warnock co-sponsored it and even offered his own amendment to reverse cuts made to medicaid.
Both amendments failed and Warnock expressed his disappointment on X.
Warnock stated, “I co-sponsored Senator Ossoff’s amendment to ban DOGE from cutting Social Security benefits. Sadly, Washington Republicans voted the amendment down. I won't stop fighting to protect Georgia seniors' hard earned benefits.”
Alongside their efforts, Senator Bernie Sanders (D) contributed to the effort of changing the resolution. His amendment focused on the minimum wage but it also failed.
Sanders stated, “Last night, every Senate Democrat voted for my amendment calling for a $17 an hour federal minimum wage while every Republican but 1 opposed it. The movement to raise the minimum wage to a living wage is growing. In 2025, a job must lift you out of poverty, not keep you in it.”
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D) also supported these efforts by the Georgia Senators. She also expressed her outrage on X claiming that the resolution will only benefit the top 1%.
Warren stated, “Senate Republicans are barrelling ahead with a plan to give tax handouts to billionaires and billionaire corporations. It would cost $7 trillion while cutting programs that help working families. It’s time to ring all the alarm bells—and I’m doing everything I can to push back.”
