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‘Stay tuned’: GOP leaders struggle over how to advance Trump’s legislative agenda

5 1
07.01.2025

Top Republicans on Capitol Hill are still jockeying over how to advance Donald Trump’s vast legislative agenda, as the incoming president’s comments have given little clarity about how GOP leaders should proceed.

Trump said on Monday that he prefers one large package — which would cover the border, energy and tax reforms — but is open to two bills. It’s stoking divisions between Senate and House GOP leaders, as Speaker Mike Johnson publicly pushes one bill, while Senate Majority Leader John Thune favors separating tax priorities from immigration and energy.

The speaker told House Republicans Saturday that Trump wants “one big beautiful bill.” But Senate Republicans quietly pushed back on that assertion all weekend, arguing they were still negotiating the best strategy.

“Senators will surely discuss it this week,” said a senior GOP aide granted anonymity to speak candidly, adding that they were continuing with a two-track plan for now.

Both Johnson and Thune said Monday that they’re talking about the best path forward.

“We're working through all that,” Thune said. “The process issues to me are a lot less important than the results."

Johnson told reporters as he arrived at the Capitol on Monday that he spoke with Trump that morning and Sunday night about how to proceed. Johnson also said he was “in dialogue” with Thune.

“The two houses will get together and we'll get it done. So stay tuned,” Johnson said.

“Some people like the one-bill strategy. Some people like the two-bill strategy,” he added. “We will work that out.”

Trump publicly put his weight behind one massive legislative package Sunday night. But, just hours later, he suggested he would support two separate tracks if needed, causing further turmoil at the Capitol.

Trump is hosting scores of House Republicans later this week at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida to discuss the plans. He’ll meet with members of the ultraconservative Freedom Caucus Friday night. Members of the group have pressed for a two-track process, as they want to prioritize passing border policies quickly.

“That’s going to be the first major, I think, hurdle for a united Republican body, to see if we can actually do that,” Freedom Caucus Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) said of Republicans’ ability to quickly land on a strategy.

Daniella Diaz contributed to this report.

Donald Trump, Jr. is traveling to Greenland amid his father’s renewed interest in the U.S. gaining control over the Danish territory.

The younger Trump reportedly has no plans to meet with any officials in Greenland during his visit Tuesday but the president-elect nonetheless linked the trip to his larger ambitions in a social media post.

“Greenland is an incredible place, and the people will benefit tremendously if, and when, it becomes part of our Nation,” Trump said Monday on Truth Social. “We will protect it, and cherish it, from a very vicious outside World. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!”

Trump last month revived a botched effort from his first term to acquire the territory from Denmark in 2019, calling "ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity" for U.S. national security. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in 2019 called Trump’s plan “absurd.”

Trump’s renewed focus on Greenland is being met with exasperation and eye rolls from several current and former U.S. national security officials. Some point out that the island isn’t for sale and talks of acquiring the territory could just alienate Greenlanders and Danes from deeper cooperation with the U.S., which has a military base there.

“Pissing everybody off by saying we’re just going to buy them outright really bruises our bilateral relationship with the Danes and more importantly ruins any kind of way for us to work this out with Greenlanders,” said Jim Townsend, a former senior Pentagon official who worked on NATO and Arctic defense policy.

These officials stressed that Greenland’s strategic Arctic location is an asset for Washington and the U.S. should work to deepen ties with the territory. The territory is the world’s largest island and is rich in natural resources.

Greenland’s prime minister, Múte Egede, has said publicly that he wants to push for independence from Denmark but has also reiterated that his territory isn’t for sale in the midst of Trump’s proposals. Under a 2009 agreement, Greenland can declare independence from Denmark after a territory-wide referendum.

Senate Republicans are expected to meet with incoming President Donald Trump on Wednesday, according to two people familiar with the plans who were granted anonymity to discuss private matters.

Republicans are expected to use the meeting to talk with Trump about the party’s reconciliation strategy, as they look for clarity about if he wants to fold a massive energy, tax and border package into one bill or split it into two. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) is expected to host the meeting, according to one of the people familiar.

Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) told reporters earlier Monday that Senate Republicans would soon be meeting with Trump “and talk about what he’d like to have done.”

“We’re all heading in exactly the same direction where we want to get to,” Barrasso told reporters, though he declined to discuss any details of the planned meeting.

Various House Republicans are expected to go down to Mar-a-Lago for meetings on reconciliation priorities throughout the weekend.

Trump endorsed the one-bill strategy for the tax, border and energy package on Sunday night on Truth Social. But he indicated he was still open to a two-track strategy in public comments on Monday.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune has backed a two-bill strategy, though he was careful not to emphasize that position Monday after Trump’s comments. But Ways & Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) has pushed to put everything in one large bill, a strategy that has support from Speaker Mike Johnson.

“I always thought two was a good idea. You can get some early wins with border … and then take the time that we need on the tax bill,” Barrasso said Monday.

Republicans are looking to take the first step to jumpstart the budget reconciliation bill: writing the instructions that will govern the terms of the package. But they’re stuck in limbo amid an ongoing debate about whether to go with a one- or two-bill strategy.

House and Senate Republican leaders have been struggling to decide if they’ll pass one package on the border, taxes and energy, or whether to do two bills that splits off taxes.

To start the reconciliation process, Budget committees in both chambers have to write instructions that would both detail how many bills they plan to pass and direct relevant committees to develop language. It’s the first formal step in the budget reconciliation process, which would allow Republicans to pass priorities without help from Democrats.

But incoming Senate Budget Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) signaled Monday that they’re still discussing the terms and lawmakers haven’t written the instructions yet.

“Well, we’re going to be talking about that,” Graham told reporters when asked if his committee is moving forward with instructions yet.

Graham also indicated he had concerns about putting everything in one package, worried that taxes could delay border policies that could be in a separate bill.

“I think it would be smart to increase military spending and give the money Trump needs to deport people and secure the border early on. I just think the national security implications of delay are pretty significant,” he said.

Republicans on Capitol Hill are now weeks into debate over whether to break off tax cut proposals into their own separate bill so they can pass priorities on the border and energy more quickly. Speaker Mike Johnson has recently been selling his colleagues on a one-bill strategy while Senate Majority Leader John Thune has backed the two-bill push. Incoming President Donald Trump has said he prefers one package, but that he’s open to two bills as well.

Many Republicans on Capitol Hill say they will defer to Trump’s preference on how to move forward.

“Whatever direction President Trump wants us to go in, that’s the direction. If he wants one beautiful bill, we’ll do one beautiful bill. If he wants two beautiful bills, we’ll do two beautiful bills,” Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) said Monday.

But Republicans need to move forward with writing the reconciliation instructions soon if they want to hold to their ambitious timeline of moving at least one bill by the end of April. Negotiations will likely only get more complicated from here — the instructions are typically considered a simpler part.

“We ought to get something done, hopefully, in the month of January,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said Monday.

Mia McCarthy contributed to this report.

As House Republicans publicly grapple over how to advance President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda, House Democrats are looking across the aisle with some schadenfreude.

Just four years ago, Democrats were hotly debating how to enact President Joe Biden’s ambitious legislative agenda as they faced similar problems — a tiny legislative majority and the gauntlet of the Senate parliamentarian. Democrats ultimately ended up splitting the agenda into two separate bills, pandemic aid legislation and a massive social spending package, and the legislative wrangling consumed much of the first two years of Biden’s presidency.

Hill Republicans are debating whether to try to pass one budget reconciliation bill with all of their border, energy and tax priorities, or to split it into two packages. President-elect Donald Trump has advocated for one bill while also keeping the door open to the two-bill strategy.

And some Democrats are doubting Republicans will be able to get anything done.

“I'm counting on them to be as ineffective as they were in the last Congress. But some of the stuff that they’re talking about is really beyond the pale,” said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.).

“It seems to me that they're having a great deal of difficulty in terms of sequencing what they want to emphasize,” said Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.), the top Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee.

While Democrats wish they held the gavels, they don’t envy the monumental task of trying to enact legislation through the budget reconciliation process to circumvent the Senate filibuster.

“Good luck,” said Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.), a member of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee. “They’ve got to decide on the strategy, and I........

© Politico


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