Senate Democrats moved to block Republican efforts Monday evening to strip illegal immigrants of taxpayer-funded benefits within President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful” bill.
The Senate voted 56 to 44 on an amendment from Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn that would have reduced federal Medicaid payments to states who offer healthcare to illegal immigrants charged or convicted of serious crimes. Though four Senate Democrats bucked their party to back the measure, the amendment failed to clear a 60-vote threshold and will therefore not be included in the president’s sweeping tax and immigration-focused bill.
“[Forty-three] Democrats just BLOCKED my amendment to punish states that give Medicaid benefits to illegal aliens convicted or charged with crimes like murder or sex trafficking,” Cornyn wrote in a statement on the social media platform X following the failed vote. “Democrats chose to side with the worst of the worst in our society over our seniors and most vulnerable American citizens. Disgusting.”
Senators are currently engaged in a marathon session of voting, known as a “vote-a-rama,” to shape the final bill through amendments before a vote on final passage.
The four Senate Democrats who crossed the political aisle to back the measure include Sens. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Catherine Cortez-Masto of Nevada and Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff of Georgia. Ossoff is widely viewed as the most vulnerable Democratic senator running for reelection, though the Georgia Republicans have yet to unite around a challenger.
Republican Maine Sen. Susan Collins, a skeptic of some of the bill’s reforms to Medicaid, joined Democrats in voting “no” on Cornyn’s amendment.
Cornyn, who is seeking a fifth Senate term, is in the middle of a contentious reelection fight against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for the 2026 GOP nomination.
The incumbent senator introduced the amendment following Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough’s determination that the provision violated the upper chamber’s so-called budget reconciliation rules. Cornyn said Thursday that he would not let a “unelected Senate staffer” stop Republicans from passing Trump’s policy priorities into law.
Republicans are using the so-called budget reconciliation process to steer around Democratic opposition and clear the president’s domestic policy bill by a simple majority vote.
Provisions that MacDonough strikes from the bill would be subject to a 60-vote threshold and would need some Democratic buy-in to pass.
Senate Democrats, led by Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the upper chamber’s budget panel, argued Cornyn’s amendment would lead to “the collective punishment of American citizens” by reducing federal Medicaid funding to Medicaid expansion states who provide coverage to illegal immigrants.
This is a backdoor [elimination] for 41 states, which includes the majority of Republican states, to reduce the federal match from 90% to 80% with huge, huge impact on the coverage of individuals across this country,” Merkley said on the Senate floor Monday.
“What happened to states’ rights,” Merkley continued in defense of blue states offering free healthcare to illegal immigrants.
Senate Democrats also blocked an amendment Monday offered by Republican Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn that would have barred illegal immigrants from receiving coverage through state-funded Medicaid programs.
The Senate version of the president’s landmark bill could pass the upper chamber as early as Monday. Trump is demanding the legislation on his desk for signature by his self-imposed deadline of July 4.
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