Newly re-elected Speaker Mike Johnson told House Republicans at a closed-door policy retreat on Saturday that President Donald Trump wants Congress to pass a broad bill filled with his priorities through the budget reconciliation process, multiple sources told ABC News.
Johnson said Trump wants to pass “a big, beautiful bill,” according to sources.
Representative Mike Johnson reacts after being re-elected as Speaker of the House during the first day of the 119th Congress, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 3, 2025.
Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters
House Republicans are meeting privately at Fort McNair to chart their legislative strategy under a Trump presidency on taxes, the border and energy, among other policy areas.
Trump’s desire to have two bills is a break from what Senate Majority Leader John Thune outlined as his plan, which includes two separate packages, multiple outlets reported.
With a trifecta in the House, Senate and White House, Republicans will have the ability to try to enact major policy changes without Democratic support using a procedural tool called budget reconciliation, which only needs a simple majority to pass the chamber. . But the small GOP majority in the House means that even the reconciliation package will be a big challenge to overcome.
The House Freedom Caucus has endorsed a two-step plan rather than Trump’s single bill, and the group of hard-liners could face a roadblock to Trump’s wishes. On Friday, several members of the House Freedom Caucus narrowly blocked Johnson from being elected speaker in the first round, though most ultimately voted for Johnson to get the 218 votes he needed to elect him. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky was the only House Republican not to vote for Johnson.
Rep. Andy Harris, chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, joins a group of conservative Republicans to discuss a temporary spending bill to avert federal agency shutdowns, on Capitol Hill in Washington, December 18, 2024.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Legislation passed through budget reconciliation, which would allow the Senate to bypass the 60-vote threshold, would need agreement among House Republicans, with a majority of 219 Republicans to 215 Democrats. If they want to pass the legislation without any Democratic support, they can only face the GOP’s demise if every member of the House is present. The only bill Trump makes through reconciliation would put the GOP caucus to the test.
“There is a group that supports splitting it in two,” Andy Harris, chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, 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.”
