The One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed its first Senate hurdle on Saturday, clearing the way for hours of floor debate and — in a last-ditch effort to slow the bill — a Democratic demand that its hundreds of pages be read aloud.

Republicans voted 51-49 to advance the megabill after hours of negotiations on and off the Senate floor, with holdouts extracting last-minute concessions in exchange for their support. Vice President JD Vance had been on hand in the event of a tie, but leadership ultimately flipped the vote of Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and two other undecided fiscal hawks.

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The Senate can now proceed to debating and amending the bill, with final passage coming as soon as Monday.

The vote represents a major step forward for Trump’s agenda, and keeps intact Republicans’ goal of sending it to President Donald Trump’s desk by July 4. But first, the Senate will acquiesce to a late Democratic request that clerks read every page of the legislation, adding an additional 15 or so hours before a final vote.

The demand is the latest complication for Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), who was forced to delay a vote for days after the parliamentarian, a nonpartisan arbiter of Senate rules, struck dozens of provisions from the megabill.

Senate Republicans have since reworked the major provisions and on Friday released updated text for the bill, but the floor reading compounds what is expected to be a messy and drawn-out process.

“This bill is going to create a lot of pain. Tonight is going to be a long night,” Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) told the Washington Examiner. “But this is going to be an even longer season for the American people.”

The maneuver is reminiscent of Johnson forcing an out-loud reading of the American Rescue Act in 2021, which at the time sparked backlash from the Democratic majority.

“Members of my caucus are doing everything they can, using the procedures of the Senate, to create a better product,” Warnock said.

After the bill is read in its entirety, senators will be able to avail themselves of 20 hours of debate, half of which Republicans could yield back. The Senate will then undergo a marathon voting session that could require leadership to update the legislation live on the floor.  

“It could be very interesting on the floor. I think this will not be your typical vote-a-rama, from what I hear,” said Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO). “It sounds to me like it’s going to be an unusually fluid process.”

Thune notched a major victory Saturday morning when Hawley, previously withholding support because of the bill’s Medicaid reforms, said he would vote in favor of final passage, and leadership seemed to be making headway with the other holdouts thanks to the updated bill text.

Hawley cited a more generous, $25 billion stabilization fund for rural hospitals and the reauthorization of his Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, which would provide compensation for nuclear contamination victims.

Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), whose state would be disproportionately hit by new cost-sharing requirements for food stamps, called temporary waivers added overnight a “home run.” His and Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s (R-AK) votes are viewed as pivotal as other senators dig in against the bill, with Murkowski among the holdouts who bartered with leadership on the Senate floor Saturday night.

Zach Halaschak contributed to this report.