President-elect Donald Trump publicly said that he’s open to a two-bill approach to budget reconciliation, slightly walking back his Sunday night endorsement of tackling the border, energy and taxes in one mammoth package.
“While I favor one bill, I also want to get everything passed. And you know, there are some people that don’t necessarily agree with it,” Trump said in an interview with conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt Monday morning.
Congressional Republicans have been debating for weeks whether to do one package, which they could pass on party lines using the budget reconciliation process, or break off tax cut proposals into a separate bill. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has backed the two-bill strategy, while Speaker Mike Johnson has recently started pushing for one large piece of legislation. Trump endorsed Johnson’s approach in a social media post on Sunday.
Trump on Monday reiterated his “preference” is “one big beautiful bill,” while noting it would take longer, which he could “live with” and he thinks would be “cleaner.” Though he noted he’s open to either way, “as long as we get something passed as quickly as possible.”
Both strategies come with risks — proponents of the two-bill track have argued Republicans should pass legislation on the border and energy priorities quickly, rather than allowing those two issues to get delayed by complicated tax negotiations. GOP lawmakers who want one bill argue that it will be easier to pass tax cuts if they’re in a larger package that includes border and energy.
“I’m not wedded to either one bill or two bills,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) told reporters at the Capitol on Monday morning. “I just think we need to all get in the same room and say, ‘OK, here’s our game plan.’ And some will be happy and some will be sad because there’s some people who feel strongly in the Senate that we ought to split it up, but I understand the House’s position, too.”
Emma Dumain contributed to this report.
