Trump wants to pass one budget reconciliation package this year, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told House Republicans on Saturday, a strategy that runs counter to the two-bill effort several other GOP lawmakers have been pushing for.
Johnson made the announcement during a private House GOP meeting at Fort McNair, five sources in the room told The Hill, as the conference gathered to discuss plans for moving legislation through the budget reconciliation process. The Republican trifecta — having taken full control of the White House and both chambers of Congress — is looking to use the process to bypass Democratic opposition and pass many of its priorities.
The House would pass a single reconciliation bill relying on GOP votes as soon as April 3 under a plan conceived by Trump and Johnson. The legislation would incorporate border security, the extension of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and an increase in the nation’s borrowing limit. That would all be coupled with spending cuts, among other things, Johnson said on Fox’s “Sunday Morning Futures.” The Senate would then clear the package for Trump’s signature by the end of April or “certainly by May.”
Trump’s stance directly contrasts with the preference of many Republicans up on Capitol Hill, including Thune, who laid out a plan last month that includes two reconciliation packages. The first would focus on border security and defense, and the other would center on extending the Trump-era tax cuts, which have some provisions that are set to expire at the end of 2025.
But Johnson made a public case Sunday for a single-bill strategy, which could avoid a Democratic filibuster.
“I think at the end of the day, President Trump is going to prefer, as he likes to say, one big, beautiful bill,” Johnson said. “While no one will like every element of the package, there will be enough elements in there to pull everyone along. So I think keeping it together is how we’ll actually get it done.”
Trump voiced his approval on Truth Social on Sunday, posting that “Republicans must unite, and quickly deliver these Historic Victories for the American People. Get smart, tough, and send the Bill to my desk to sign as soon as possible.”
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