President Donald Trump did not offer GOP congressional leaders any easy lay-ups in his joint address Tuesday night, sending mixed messages on his existing legislative priorities and proposing others that ranged from impractical to totally unrealistic.
Trump reiterated his campaign-trail promises to end taxes on tips, overtime and Social Security — policies House Republicans worry are too expensive to combine with permanently extending the president’s tax cuts from 2017.
He pressed Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, by name, to send through more money for his deportation agenda “without delay” — an ask that could give Senate Republicans renewed leverage to demand the House agree to their preference for passing Trump’s border and energy policies now and moving a separate bill with his tax cuts later.
But Trump also emphasized the importance of tax cuts, a potential nod to the House’s desire to enact one bill encompassing all three priorities. And he made a new call for no taxes on American-made cars.
Trump’s legislative proposals got tougher from there. The president bashed the CHIPS and Science Act — which passed with bipartisan support in 2022 and has led to major investments in red districts and states — telling Johnson to “get rid” of the law and use “whatever’s left over … to reduce the debt or any other reason you want to.” Johnson stood and applauded. Other Republicans were less enthusiastic.
“I’ve supported the CHIPS Act,” Rep. Mike Lawler said. “Obviously, the investment in chip manufacturing is critical, and certainly in New York, it’s an important investment as we move forward.”
Sen. Todd Young, a key architect of the CHIPS Act, ran out of the chamber on the phone a few minutes before the joint address ended and wouldn’t stop to talk to reporters. Others who voted for the bill, such as Sens. Susan Collins, Roger Wicker and Bill Cassidy, did not answer questions, either.
Other improbable acts Trump floated included codifying his executive order that mandates the death penalty for anyone who murders a police officer and building a “golden dome” missile system around the United States — akin to Israel’s so-called Iron Dome complex.
Democrats, of course, won’t help with any of this — even before their show of rebellion Tuesday night. Texas Rep. Al Green was ejected early in Trump’s speech after repeatedly shouting the president had “no mandate.” (Johnson is now calling to censure him). Others held up signs reading “Musk Steals,” “Save Medicaid” and “Protect Veterans.” They didn’t join the escort committee that led Trump into the chamber and many refused to clap, even during bipartisan moments in the speech. Some left early.
Trump seemed to relish in Democrats’ discontent, saying that there was “absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy.”
What else we’re watching:
- Musk on the Hill: Musk will meet with the House GOP conference tonight to “give an update on his efforts” and discuss codifying DOGE’s cuts in a future government funding package, Johnson has said. Republicans have faced growing backlash in their districts to Musk’s mass firings of federal workers and congressional Republicans considering possible Medicaid reductions.
- Hard-liners at the White House: Fiscal conservatives are meeting with Trump at the White House this afternoon as the president and GOP leaders personally lobby to get holdouts on board. But fiscal conservatives are playing hardball and say that if the speaker adds any additional funding to the shutdown-averting bill, then they will demand changes to Johnson’s budget resolution.
- Sanctuary city mayors testify: Four Democratic mayors — Eric Adams of New York City, Michelle Wu of Boston, Brandon Johnson of Chicago, and Mike Johnston of Denver — will testify before the House Oversight Committee at 10 a.m. about their so-called sanctuary city policies. Republicans are set to excoriate them for their lack of cooperation with the administration’s immigration-enforcement agenda. The mayors have been preparing in hopes of avoiding a spectacle — but they haven’t been coordinating much with each other, Wu said Tuesday.
Jennifer Scholtes, Nicholas Wu and Hailey Fuchs contributed to this report.
