The Thursday morning vote on the Senate’s budget blue print – a key initial step in the long budget process – will ultimately allow Republicans to muscle the president’s first big legislative measure over a Democratic filibuster. It capped a dramatic week for Speaker Mike Johnson, who was forced to call off plans for a vote on the contentious measure just hours earlier after nearly 20 Republicans demanded a guarantee of steep spending cuts. GOP leaders ultimately convinced them to back the plan for how, punting bigger – and more difficult – fights on spending for the coming weeks. It marked a win for Johnson, who has repeatedly relied on Trump to pass contentious bills that his conservatives hate.

The 216-214 vote pushed the budget plan forward, one more milestone for Johnson, and the next step in a lengthy process to unlock the centerpiece to the president’s domestic agenda of tax cuts, mass deportations and a smaller federal government. A failed vote, particularly as the economy was convulsing over Trump’s trade wars, would have been a major setback for the party in power in Washington. Two conservative Republicans voted against it, as did all Democrats. Trump, at a black-tie fundraising dinner this week, had admonished Republicans to “stop grandstanding” on the budget. By Thursday morning, Trump had shifted his tone, posting on social media that it’s “coming along really well.” “Biggest Tax Cuts in USA History!!! Getting close,” Trump said.

The 216-214 vote on Thursday marks a major step forward for Trump’s legislative agenda, and notches a much-needed win for the White House after Trump put some of his tariffs on hold a day earlier. House passage of the measure unlocks a procedural fast track for a bill later this year that would extend expiring tax cuts, lower taxes even further and increase spending for border security and national defense. Two House Republicans—Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Victoria Spartz of Indiana—joined Democrats in voting against the measure. But the rest of the conference fell in line, helping the party eke out a win in the narrowly divided chamber.