Republicans appear close to settling on a strategy for passing President-elect Donald Trump’s sweeping border security, energy and tax agenda.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said in a brief interview Wednesday evening that House and Senate GOP leaders are likely to make a final decision by Thursday about how they’ll pursue the budget reconciliation process to enact their policy priorities and extend expiring tax cuts.
“We’re coordinating both chambers to align them and we’ll make those final decisions, I think, probably by tomorrow,” said Johnson.
Privately, House GOP leaders are optimistic key senators are getting behind Johnson’s push for one massive reconciliation bill, a procedural maneuver that allows the majority party to advance a legislative package without relying on the minority party’s votes.
However, there are still holdouts who are pushing for two separate reconciliation bills — one narrow measure dealing primarily with border security and energy policies and another addressing taxes more broadly. Trump, who prefers one bill but has waffled on his position lately, is meeting with Senate Republican leaders Wednesday night.
Johnson spent Wednesday meeting with Republicans in his office discussing a long list of potential spending cuts and myriad ways to pay for the bill. Several House Republicans said some more controversial offsets like Medicaid work requirements are still on the table.
Some House Republicans have estimated Trump’s initial sweeping wish list, which includes extending his suite of 2017 tax cuts, could total $10 trillion dollars, and will need at least $5 trillion in pay-fors. It’s possible, though, that GOP leaders could decide to measure the legislation’s cost against an increase in GDP, rather than using a bill “score” from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget office.
Johnson said he wasn’t sure yet where Republicans would land on spending offsets.
Several House Republicans said they believe it’s likely lawmakers will cobble together one huge bill and spending cuts, and then Trump will tell members the rest of the bill will be paid for with tariffs — a move that many Republicans say is not a viable spending offset and have groused about in private.
Among the GOP hard-liners who prefer the two-bill approach is Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a prominent member of the House Freedom Caucus who is specifically agitating for an initial reconciliation measure that includes border security provisions and deep spending cuts paired with a debt ceiling hike.
“I remain of the view that two bills will enable us to deliver the quickest the things that we and the president care most about,” Roy said leaving Johnson’s office Wednesday.
