President-elect Donald Trump and Senate Republicans are facing their first problem, but it looks like the party is handling it well.
According to the New York PostJust as Trump was paying his respects to Jimmy Carter, who is currently lying in state at the capitol, he was having a 100-minute meeting with Senate Republicans about passing Trump’s top legislative priorities.
According to Trump, the meeting was “really good, very strong.”
The hurdle they face is how they plan to pass these bills. Trump wanted “a big, beautiful bill” at the start of his second term, but he appears to have backed away from that demand as Senate Republicans have warned that an all-encompassing bill could become far more arduous to pass, and over time becomes crucial Maybe it’s better to crush it.
The problems on the table are diverse and massive.
First, there is the expansion of the 2017 tax cuts, which would include Trump’s promise to eliminate taxes on tips, overtime and Social Security benefits.
Then there is border security, which Trump says will “begin immediately” and will leverage unused funds from the “green new scam” or funds from renewable energy programs.
There are also discussions about shifting financing away from renewable energy and toward more established sources such as oil and gas.
“By far the best chance of success is to pass two bills,” said Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. “Failure is not an option.”
“The stakes are too high to fail,” Cruz added. “There was broad agreement, if not complete unanimity, in this room on this point. I think we had a very positive and substantive conversation and I think he absolutely heard what we had to say.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune agrees with Cruz, noting that the first bill should address Trump’s border and energy priorities and the second bill should address the 2017 tax cuts.
“Of course, a lot of effort is required when preparing a tax assessment. There are a lot of moving parts. There have been many proposals that the President has put on the table and that we will consider,” said Thune.
“But ultimately we want to put forward a bill that expands existing tax policy to prevent a $4.6 trillion tax boost on the American people at the end of the year and hopefully accomplish some of the other things that the President wants “Planned goals,” he added.
Republicans have a sturdy majority in the Senate, meaning they don’t have to have a bipartisan vote and can utilize budget reconciliation to push through bills with a basic majority. This comes with its own requirements, as the post notes:
For a reconciliation bill to work, a Senate parliamentarian would have to determine whether the measure’s provisions affect only spending levels and do not overtly change federal policy – a tender balance that Democrats previously tested in Biden’s first two years in office.
It could then pass both chambers of Congress with a basic majority. Republicans currently hold a 53-47 advantage in the Senate and a 219-215 advantage in the House.
Despite the hurdles, Senate Republicans appear to have different ideas about how to get there, but they all agree on passing the legislation. Furthermore, with Trump directly involved, it is clear that the focus is on implementing Trump’s promises quickly and thoroughly.
