At a closed session of House Republicans on Saturday morning, newly reelected House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) announced that President-elect Donald Trump would like to see a single settlement that addresses his priorities, including border security. He said he was in favor of passing the bill. Two sources with direct knowledge of Energy and the extension of the 2017 tax law he signed told NBC News.
Since the November election, when Republicans regained the White House and the Senate majority and maintained the House majority, Republican lawmakers have been wondering whether they should try to pass one or two reconciliation bills to advance their agenda. It has been discussed publicly.
Reconciliation allows Congress to pass partisan policies on taxes and spending with a simple majority, suspending the Senate’s usual 60-vote threshold for passing legislation.
With the House Republican majority so thin and the Republican Senate majority at four seats, there is little room for Republicans to lose Republican votes even if they were to use reconciliation to pass the bill.
Mr. Johnson’s revelation that Mr. Trump favors a single reconciliation bill is significant. That’s because some people close to the president-elect, including those involved in negotiating any package, like Johnson’s immigration policy adviser Stephen Miller, are pushing Republicans to introduce two separate reconciliation bills. Because there is. One focuses on tackling immigration, and the other focuses on President Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, which are set to expire later this year.
President Trump’s support for just one bill is welcome news to many leaders, but could be a blow to some hardliners who want an immediate resolution to the border issue.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R.S.D.) endorsed a two-bill strategy in December, and Republicans in the chamber have already begun preparing a border-only reconciliation bill.
“In my opinion, it makes sense to move quickly on the things we know we can do right away, like borders, defense, energy,” Thun told reporters last month. “We will then present another package that addresses some of the savings achieved through cost reductions in various agencies, bureaucracies and government programs, as well as the Trump tax cuts that are set to expire later this year.”
Many Republicans in Congress have taken issue with trying to introduce two budgets in one year through a volatile process that bypasses the 60-vote threshold. Uniting the party around two giant bills instead of just one bill would be a huge effort and could unnecessarily waste political capital, they say. Lawmakers tasked with crafting tax policy have already developed a tax plan, but splitting it into two would make Trump’s extension of tax cuts more costly and add to the deficit. I am concerned that this will happen. This is a red line for many Republicans to avoid.
A spokesperson for Trump’s transition team and Mr. Thune did not respond to requests for comment.
Sahil Kapur and Scott Wong contributed.
