WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican congressional leaders joined forces with President Donald Trump on Tuesday to chart a clear path forward to make sweeping changes to border security, energy policy and the nation’s tax code, although they remained deadlocked on one issue , which they have been thinking about for weeks.
Republicans secured unified control of government by promising voters that they would pass modern laws on key policy areas. However, they do not yet agree on whether to bundle all the various changes into one omnibus measure or adopt them in two separate packages.
Republican leaders also have yet to determine where far-right members and centrists overlap in dozens of areas, as the votes of nearly every Republican in Congress will be needed to get a bill to Trump’s desk.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said after returning to the Capitol that negotiators had not yet reached consensus on how to package their policy proposal. It was Trump’s second day in office and the first meeting of leading Republicans with him in the White House.
“Well, I think the discussion is always about what we can achieve, and we’re obviously all interested in achieving the same goal,” Thune said.
The South Dakota Republican said in addition to working out an agreement among themselves on reconciliation, GOP leaders need to figure out how to fund the government before the March 14 deadline and how to address the country’s debt limit before an expected default date later take place this year.
Both issues require Republicans to reach an agreement with Democrats to avoid a partial government shutdown that begins less than 100 days into Trump’s presidency or a first-ever national default that would likely trigger a global financial crisis.
“So there’s a lot to do and part of it is just figuring out how to stage it and how best to get all these results,” Thune said, adding with a slight laugh that there are a lot of “great theories.” ” about how to get everything done this year.
“But you know, it’s always different when you have to put it into practice,” he said, previewing the complicated and rocky path that comes with turning campaign promises into law.
Trump said during a White House news conference after the meeting that he believed the House, Senate and White House had “pretty much” found a strategy.
“I think we have a good situation now,” Trump said.
Difficult process
Republicans plan to employ the convoluted budget reconciliation process to pass their border security, energy and tax proposals without needing Democratic support to overcome the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster.
The process requires that each part of the package affect federal revenue or spending in a way that is not considered “merely incidental” by the Senate parliamentarian.
This could pose some challenges for the committees tasked with drafting various sections of the package in the coming months, particularly in the area of immigration policy, which may not involve the costs normally associated with the reconciliation process.
Democrats, for example, tried to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour in a coronavirus relief bill. They brought her through the reconciliation process in 2021. But the Senate representative regulated its impact on the federal budget was “purely coincidental” and led Democrats to remove that provision from the larger bill.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, then the ranking member of the Budget Committee, was released a written statement in February 2021 he praised the parliamentarian’s decision to formulate the minimum wage.
“I am very pleased that the Senate parliamentarian has decided that an increase in the minimum wage represents an inappropriate change to reconciliation policy,” Graham wrote at the time. “This decision strengthens reconciliation and cannot be used as a vehicle to pass major legislative changes – by either party – with a simple majority. “This decision will strengthen the traditions of the Senate over time.”
Household clearance
Republicans must agree on one, not two, reconciliation bills, and generally on how to change U.S. law, before they can officially begin the reconciliation process.
The House and Senate must vote to approve a budget resolution with reconciliation instructions before they can release the reconciliation process. To do this, heads of state and government must at least have an overview of what they are planning to do, how much they are likely to cost and which committees are responsible for these policy areas.
House Republican leaders hope to vote on this budget resolution in February, draft the bill in March, hold a vote in that chamber in early April and resolve any disagreements with the Senate before the end of May to send the package to Trump.
Ashley Murray and Ariana Figueroa contributed to this report.
Last updated at 7:09 p.m., January 21, 2025
