Vice President JD Vance, White House policy chief Stephen Miller and budget chief Russ Vought are among those in the Trump administration pushing for a two-bill approach on reconciliation, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is pushing for one, people familiar with their thinking, granted anonymity to share it, said Wednesday.
Two of those familiar confirmed Vance and Miller’s positions, which prioritize quickly passing immigration-related funding and dealing with tax cuts in separate legislation later, while one of those and a third person confirmed Vought also supports the strategy.
Congressional Republicans are using the budget reconciliation process to bypass Senate filibusters and more quickly enact President Donald Trump’s agenda, including tax cuts and additional funding for border security and defense.
Vought and immigration czar Tom Homan were on the Hill Tuesday pushing the Senate to move quickly to approve the border funding, which Senate Republicans interpreted to mean their two-bill strategy has President Donald Trump’s blessing.
“It’s just going to take a long time to get the big, beautiful bill done,” one of the people said.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bessent, meanwhile, is pushing Trump’s “one, big beautiful bill” strategy, according to two people familiar with the discussions, the position House Speaker Mike Johnson is advocating. Johnson believes he needs border, energy and taxes all in one package to pass it through the House GOP’s narrow majority.
While Trump has voiced support for the one-bill approach, he has left the door open to two, if that’s the best way to move the policy through Congress.
The Senate Budget Committee began marking up its budget resolution Wednesday morning, with Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) framing the move as a backup plan if House Republicans fail to move swiftly on their own proposal. The Senate plan allows for a $150 billion increase in defense spending and would boost border security funding by $175 billion, which administration officials view as a key priority.
House Republicans, meanwhile, released their one-bill fiscal blueprint in advance of a Thursday morning markup.
