The Senate is working to tie up loose ends on President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” ahead of a high-stakes vote planned for Saturday.

Republicans left a Friday lunch telling reporters the Senate would vote at noon to advance the legislation, an aggressive timetable that Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) later called “aspirational.”

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Senators are still awaiting rulings from the parliamentarian, the nonpartisan arbiter of Senate rules, on some of the most controversial elements of the tax bill, while fiscal hawks are attempting to tap the brakes with a request for more time.

“All of it depends on — we’ve got a few things we’re waiting on, outcomes from the parliamentarian, but if we can get some of those questions, issues landed, then my expectation is at some point tomorrow, we’d be ready to go,” Thune said.

That assessment came after a lunch attended by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who were huddling with Senate Republicans to discuss a tentative deal on the state and local tax deduction.

The Senate has yet to accept the SALT proposal — a $40,000 cap that snaps back to $10,000, the current limit, after five years — but the meeting served as a chance to get the entire conference on board.

“We’re very, very close,” Bessent told the Washington Examiner after the meeting.

WHITE HOUSE BREAKS SALT LOGJAM — BUT STILL NO DEAL WITH THE SENATE

Senate Republicans also received an update on the provider tax, which states use to help fund their share of Medicaid. The provision, a 3.5% cap on expansion states, has roiled the conference and threatened its passage, with centrist members worried it could lead rural hospitals to close.

On Friday, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) threatened to oppose the bill without further insight into how it would affect North Carolina, though Republicans hope to mollify those concerns with a stabilization fund that Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) said would be larger than the $15 billion offered by the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday.

Republicans are also planning to delay the implementation of the provider tax to meet the filibuster-skirting rules of reconciliation, a tweak that could help soften opposition. The change has yet to be approved by Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough after earlier language was struck alongside dozens of other provisions.

The churn has cast a pall of uncertainty over the vote. Thune initially hoped to bring the legislation to the floor by midweek, and even a Saturday vote could slip if leadership cannot release the full legislative text by Friday night.

Committee by committee text has been available for days, but fiscal hawks, led by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), generally believe the process is being rushed and on Friday requested a conference meeting to work through the bill “provision by provision.” 

Other members are staying noncommittal until the full legislative text has been released, including centrists with concerns over Medicaid.

“I haven’t seen the provisions, so we’re all kind of waiting for that,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) told the Washington Examiner.

Thune conceded he may not yet have the 50 votes needed to advance the megabill, a hodge-podge of tax, border, and defense priorities. But if he is successful, the Senate would debate the measure for at least 10 hours before a Sunday vote on final passage.

“We’ll find out tomorrow,” Thune said of the test vote.

For now, Senate Republicans are still awaiting rulings from the parliamentarian on Medicaid and their use of a “current policy baseline,” a controversial scoring method that allows them to treat trillions in tax cut extensions as cost-free.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), an adviser to Thune, told reporters Friday that MacDonough is still waiting for scores on its budgetary effect.

Leadership must also deconflict a standoff over the sale of public lands tucked in the legislation and has not yet settled on a number for the rural hospital fund.

The to-do list amounts to a major hurdle for Thune, who is rushing to meet a July 4 deadline to pass the bill. During a Friday morning press conference, Trump appeared to soften his insistence on that date before posting on Truth Social that he still wants it on his desk by Independence Day.

THUNE MAKES HOLD-YOUR-NOSE-PITCH TO ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ HOLDOUTS

If the Senate can stay on track, Mike Johnson would then call House members back from their weeklong break to pass the legislation. Johnson is dealing with holdouts over the same provisions, though he managed to get an initial version of the bill through his chamber by a single vote in May.