CNN
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Donald Trump and his Republican allies in Congress recently shared some of the first details of their ambitious agenda – sweeping tax cuts, border security and raising the debt ceiling – which they hope to pass within the first 100 days of the term of office of the elected president. .
And all this with one of the smallest majorities in the House of Representatives in history.
Speaking after House Republicans gathered for a weekend policy and leadership retreat, Speaker Mike Johnson said Trump pushed for a single bill.
“At the end of the day, President Trump is going to prefer, as he likes to say, ‘a big, beautiful bill.’ And that has a lot of merit … because there are so many elements, and it will give us a little more time to negotiate this and get it right,” Johnson told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures.” »
It will be a huge undertaking, especially given the Republican Party’s narrow margin and ambitious timetable to have the bill on Trump’s desk by the end of April.
Republicans plan to pass the bill using the budget process known on Capitol Hill as reconciliation, which allows bills to be approved by a simple majority (51 votes) in the Senate. But approval of each reconciliation bill requires two steps and a marathon series of votes, and the legislation must be subject to strict budget rules in the Senate.
Typically, reconciliation bills are attempted once a year during one-party rule in Congress.
John Thune, leader of the Republican majority in the Senate had already said that the plan was to propose two separate reconciliation packages – another extremely difficult task given the slim margins in both chambers.
“Our other top priority – and another reason why the timetable will be particularly aggressive in the first 100 days – is to adopt a reconciliation plan with a once-in-a-generation investment in border security and immigration control. immigration,” Thune said in a December statement. speech in which he outlined the legislative priorities for 2025.
“And, of course, continue work on our reconciliation agenda to expand the tax relief that Republicans gave Americans under the first Trump administration,” he added.
If the single, combined bill passes the House and reaches the Senate, Thune said it is expected to implement much of Trump’s reconciliation agenda. But he thinks measures like border security could be passed on a steady basis with Democratic support.
“It would be ideal if we could find a way to do things at the 60-vote threshold. And we will do a number of things. We believe that a generational investment in the border is necessary, given where we are, after the last four years of what I think is a very failed Biden-Harris border policy,” he said in a statement. interview aired Sunday on CBS’ “Face.” the Nation. »
This contrasts with the idea of implementing a vast reconciliation program. And Thune said earlier in the same interview that to help Trump “succeed” in passing his agenda, he will have to help him understand what can be done within the confines of how the Senate works.
“We want to get to the same destination, but I think there will sometimes be differences in how we get there. And understanding the unique aspects of how the Senate works is something that I’m going to have to be able to share and convey to the president and help him understand… what the contours are, what we can accomplish here in the Senate,” he said. . said.
Many senators have argued that reviving Trump’s term with a border bill — filled with wildly popular Republican ideas — is a better policy move than risking a dragging tax battle.
But Republican House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith warned that it was a “bad strategy,” telling CNN’s Dana Bash in December that it would be incredibly difficult to get across the line. arrived at both bills, thereby endangering the expiring 2017 tax cuts. this year, straight away.
“I believe the first reconciliation bill needs to be a comprehensive reconciliation bill that deals with the expiring tax provisions. It also addresses energy, borders, immigration, as well as some spending cuts,” Smith said on CNN’s “Inside Politics.”
“I think that’s what’s needed to get the votes needed to thread the needle and move it to the United States Senate,” he said.
He added: “Failure is not an option. »
GOP Rep. Don Bacon admitted that path won’t be easy.
“Nothing is easy: a reconciliation with three seats, a majority of three seats. I think the border people know that this needs to be done. It will be a little harder on taxes, but we have to do it,” he said Friday.
Johnson told CNN on Friday that Trump’s support was “a big factor” in the Louisiana Republican’s victory. keep the speaker’s gavel.
“President Trump is…certainly the most powerful president in the modern era, perhaps in all of American history,” Johnson said. “His voice and his influence are singularly influential. And I’m grateful to have his support, and I’m humbled by that. And I think that was an important factor.
In addition to the president-elect speaking directly to holdouts, key Republicans huddled against Johnson and attempted to set the record straight on past grievances while charting a path forward, particularly when it came to fighting imminent reconciliation.
“People of good faith looked each other in the eye and made commitments to each other,” one Republican lawmaker said of the private conversations.
A group of House Republicans who had been skeptical of Johnson released a letter outlining a list of demands they want him to agree to.
The 11 House Republicans called Johnson add sitting days to the House calendar; ensure that any reconciliation program includes significant spending reductions; and stop introducing bills that rely heavily on Democratic support or before the 72 hours allotted for members to consider the legislation.
“Today we voted for Mike Johnson for Speaker of the House because of our unwavering support for President Trump and to ensure the timely certification of his electors,” the lawmakers wrote. “We did this despite our sincere reservations about the President’s record over the past 15 months.”
In listing their legislative priorities, lawmakers said Johnson had “no margin for error.”
Trump had hoped tackling the debt ceiling now in part so that it doesn’t affect the ambitious agenda he wants to present to Congress next year. Johnson’s decision to tie the debt ceiling increase to the reconciliation plan risks angering the same radical conservatives who demanded a single bill.
Johnson noted in his Fox interview Sunday that it will be difficult to convince Republicans to agree to the debt limit’s inclusion. “A lot of moving pieces, a lot of things to negotiate, a lot of opinions about it all,” Johnson said. “So we’re going to be working very long hours with whiteboards to make sure every Republican is on board.”