President Donald Trump's push to move a key budget resolution before Congress leaves for its August recess hit a roadblock Wednesday, with Senate Majority Leader John Thune acknowledging Republicans don't yet have the votes to get it across the finish line.
"We'll have a more fulsome conversation about that later," Thune told reporters when asked about the House-approved budget framework.
"Right now, we don't have 50," he added.
The admission comes just one day after Trump publicly urged Senate Republicans to act before lawmakers leave Washington for a five-week recess.
If approved, the budget resolution would unlock the reconciliation process, allowing Republicans to advance an emergency spending package later this year with a simple majority instead of facing a Democratic filibuster.
The proposal includes $73 billion to support the U.S. war effort in Iran, $12 billion for farmers and $10 billion in incentives for states that adopt election reforms.
Trump made his case in a Truth Social post Tuesday, urging Senate Republicans to move quickly.
"Senator Ron Johnson is working hard with Senate Republican Leadership to adopt a Budget Resolution before the August recess. This is the first step towards getting as much of THE SAVE AMERICA ACT as possible in a Budget Bill, funding our Troops, and helping our Farmers," Trump wrote.
"I am calling on the Senate to get this critical first step done before the August recess. This Resolution can be adopted at a simple Majority threshold. GET IT DONE!"
But Trump's push has become more complicated because he also wants Republicans to include an increase in the federal debt limit that would carry through the end of his presidency.
Thune said Trump "is keenly interested in" addressing the debt ceiling before Republicans potentially lose control of either chamber after the November elections.
Still, the Senate leader acknowledged that combining a debt-limit increase with the budget package could make an already difficult vote even tougher. Fiscal conservatives are expected to demand significant spending cuts in exchange for authorizing more federal borrowing.
"We hit it next year," Thune said, referring to the next debt-limit deadline.
Thune pointed to last year's One Big Beautiful Bill Act as evidence that Republicans have paired spending reductions with an increase in the debt ceiling before.
"Deficit reduction was one of the principal reasons for doing budget reconciliation, which we did last summer. We did entitlement reform for the first time, frankly, really in the time I've been here," Thune said.
Even with that precedent, winning enough Republican support may prove difficult. Lawmakers would likely have to agree on cuts to mandatory or discretionary spending programs just months before the midterm elections, a politically risky move for members already facing competitive races.
