After nearly overturning a spending bill last month and forcing a government shutdown, the president-elect Donald Trump Legislative business on Capitol Hill continues to shake out, with Republicans in recent days offering shifting views on how to pass his major policy changes.
With control of Congress and the White House, Republicans can implement Trump’s legislative agenda without Democratic support using a procedural tool called reconciliation, which requires only a simple majority to pass spending bills instead of the 60-vote threshold.
The negotiated package is expected to include some of Trump’s top priorities, including extending tax cuts passed in his first term and addressing his immigration reforms, including more funding for the Border Patrol and ICE. Trump has also pushed Congress to increase or eliminate the debt limit, though the details of any plans are unclear.
President-elect Donald Trump looks on during the Turning Point USA AmericaFest at the Phoenix Convention Center on December 22, 2024 in Phoenix.
Rebecca Noble/Getty Images
House Speaker Mike Johnson told House Republicans about those plans Saturday at a closed-door policy retreat over the weekend as they hammered out their legislative agenda.
On Sunday morning, the speaker told Fox Business: “At the end of the day, President Trump will prefer, as he likes to say, ‘a big, beautiful bill.’ And that has a lot of merit, because we can put it all together, a big up or down vote, and that can literally save the country because there are so many elements.”
Trump advocated for the first time late Sunday that Congress pass a broad bill through reconciliation rather than several bills.
“Members of Congress are working on a powerful Bill that will bring our Country back and make it greater than ever,” Trump said on Truth Social, referring to the reconciliation package.
Trump defended the “one, beautiful bill” during an appearance on the “Hugh Hewitt Show” Monday morning, but later said he might be willing to split the package in two.
“I would prefer one, but I will do whatever it takes to get it passed,” Trump told Hewitt.
Trump’s openness to change reflects the fact that the single-bill proposal is a break from the two-package deal brokered by Senate Majority Leader John Thune and other Republicans.
“We have a lot of respect for Senator Tune, who, as you know, may have a different perspective on this,” Trump told Hewitt. “I heard other senators yesterday, including Lindsey (Graham), talking about it. They prefer it the other way. So I’m open. I’m open to both sides, as long as we can get something passed as quickly as possible.”
Thune brushed off questions about the different strategies as he made his way to the Senate chamber on Monday.
“We are working with all that. Process issues are much less important to me than results,” he said.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson welcomes President-elect Donald Trump during a meeting of the House Republican Conference at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill, Nov. 13, 2024.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Taking the reconciliation path will be a big challenge to overcome, given the slim GOP majority in the House. Members of the House Freedom Caucus, a group of conservative Republicans who have endorsed a two-step plan, could block it.
“There are people who support splitting a group into two,” Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris said in an interview on Fox News on Saturday. “The first piece, a very small piece of the border, where we give the president the money he needs to secure our southern border and start deporting criminal illegal aliens.”
Trump triggered a government shutdown last month when he demanded at the 11th hour that a bipartisan temporary funding bill include provisions to suspend the debt ceiling. That bill failed after Democrats and conservative Republicans voted against it. The House later passed a bill that was closer to the original measure, without fixing the debt ceiling.
Johnson has expressed an urgency to pass the legislation despite Trump’s shifting position as the speaker and the president-elect continue to work together to deliver on the ambitious promises Trump made in his first 100 days in office.
Johnson said the goal is to pass a reconciliation package by the first week of April so that Trump can sign it into law by the end of April. He added, “At worst, Memorial Day” for bringing it to Trump’s desk.
Johnson said Monday that he spoke with Trump about the evolving plan late Sunday and again Monday morning.
“So some like the one-bill strategy, some like the two-bill strategy. We’re going to fix that,” Johnson said as he entered the Capitol. “I’m on the phone this morning with Senator Thune, and the two houses are going to come together and we’re going to get it done.”
