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After an election-year session that saw a hard-right splinter group of Republicans hold up much of the action on the floor, the 2025 version of the Senate pushed through a tentative deal Wednesday that places permanent restrictions on puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender minors.

The maneuver, which still needs an initial OK from the chamber, came with little warning and no public hearing, giving voters little opportunity to weigh in on the change.

While the measure drew a brief filibuster from Democrats before it was pulled from consideration, Republicans said the removal of an expiration date on transgender care for youth shows they are unified on a culture war issue that also has the attention of President Donald Trump.

“Despite the challenges of the past, this body is moving forward, and it is Senate Republicans who are leading the charge. We are moving conservative priorities,� Senate Majority Leader Tony Luetkemeyer told reporters Thursday.

“It just shows the unity of the caucus that we haven’t had in years,� said Sen. Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville, who has been at odds with Senate leaders for his role as head of the Freedom Caucus faction.

Democrats signaled that jettisoning the transgender expiration date provision was outweighed by a separate change in the bill that removes the expiration date of a key tax that helps Missouri pay for the state’s Medicaid program.

“Getting health care for Missourians is a top priority for us,� said Senate Minority Leader Doug Beck, D-Affton.

The transgender issue came to the floor as an amendment by Brattin to an unrelated bill to eliminate or extend expiration dates for certain laws. Senators approved the amendment on a party line 22-8 vote before Democrats began their filibuster in an attempt to derail the change.

Missouri’s current law preventing minors from accessing cross-sex hormones or puberty blockers for gender transition was approved in 2023.

As a concession to Democrats at the time, the law is set to expire in August 2027.

Whether puberty blockers and hormone therapy for minors should be allowed has been the subject of intense debate in the Legislature for years. The House spent more than seven hours earlier this week debating the removal of the expiration date in a sometimes emotional hearing.

Brattin downplayed the surprise move, saying he doesn’t believe the Senate needs to hold public hearings on the effects of making the ban permanent.

“What’s to debate? We know where we all stand,� Brattin said.

Luetkemeyer, a Parkville Republican, said the Senate is attempting to be more efficient this year after approving a record-low number of bills last year as some senators jockeyed for position as statewide candidates.

“It kind of turned into a dumpster last year,� said Brattin, who was among those engaged in the conflagration.

Luetkemeyer said the Senate’s approval of five, noncontroversial bills this week shows the unity plan is working.

“We are not backing down,� he said.

With the expiration date for the transgender law in limbo in the Senate, House Majority Leader Alex Riley, R-Springfield, said Thursday that repealing the sunset remains a priority for House Republicans.

Riley added that removing the expiration date this year is important because it’s unclear how much longer the Senate will be functional.

“You never know what the future (holds), the Senate has had lots of dysfunction over the past four, five, six years,� Riley said Thursday. “It seems they’re working together well now but next year is an election year. Then, after that, you have a very different makeup of the Senate.�

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Jack Suntrup of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.