Senate Republicans believe they have President Donald Trump’s blessing as they pursue a two-bill strategy for passing his domestic legislative agenda.
Trump has repeatedly said that he prefers “one big, beautiful bill,” but Senate Republicans have been privately checking that he is OK with them moving forward with two bills — one that addresses the border, energy and defense spending quickly, while a second gets into more complicated tax cuts. On Tuesday, OMB Director Russ Vought and Border Czar Tom Homan also said behind closed doors that they need $175 billion in additional border money quickly, further boosting Senate Republicans’ confidence in moving immediately.
“I talked to President Trump over the weekend. He wants to get results,” Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told reporters after the closed-door lunch.
The Senate’s plan runs contrary to that of Speaker Mike Johnson, who is still pursuing his one-bill strategy, believing he needs the border, energy and taxes all in one package to pass it through the House GOP’s narrow majority. Johnson told reporters on Tuesday that the Senate’s plan was a “non-starter” in his chamber.
Asked if Trump supports Senate Republicans moving forward with a two-bill strategy, Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) added: “Absolutely.”
“He wants results,” Barrasso said of their conversations over the weekend with Trump.
Homan and Vought, according to GOP senators in the closed-door lunch, didn’t explicitly take a side in Congress’ debate over one bill vs. two. And Homan declined to weigh in on his preference to reporters as he left the lunch. But senators believe the implicit guidance from Vought and Homan is that they want border funding however they can get it, and quickly.
“I bet you they talked to [Trump] before they came over,” Graham told reporters. “Why would they come over and tell us — begging for money — if they didn’t want to move?”
Trump has personally muddied the waters on the reconciliation strategy, consistently saying he prefers one bill but leaving the door open to two bills if that’s the best way to pass it through Congress.
“The president says he wants one bill. It’s unclear to me from these guys if they want one bill. I think they want funding. I don’t think they really care about the vehicle,” said Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), referring to Homan and Vought.
It’s still unclear if the House can get its budget resolution, which would outline the parameters of one sweeping bill, out of committee on Thursday. Leadership has indicated they’re hoping to get it through the Budget panel this week.
Graham, Barrasso, Johnson and House GOP Whip Tom Emmer attended the Super Bowl with Trump over the weekend, where they talked about their reconciliation strategy. Graham, recounting their conversations on Tuesday, said that he told Johnson that “nothing would please me more than one big beautiful bill passed by the House” but that border officials are quickly running out of money. Graham also encouraged Johnson to invite Homan and Vought to talk to his conference, arguing the two officials would make their case for moving now on border funding.
“If [the House] can’t do it quickly, we need to go to Plan B,” Graham said.
Jennifer Scholtes and Lisa Kashinsky contributed reporting.
