Washington — Senate Republicans said Wednesday that they intend to move forward with their own plan to approve key components of President Trump’s agenda beginning next week, as the House efforts to start the budget reconciliation process have stalled.
“It’s time for the Senate to move,” Sen. Lindsey Graham told reporters Wednesday, after briefing Senate Republicans on the plan during their lunch meeting.
Congressional leaders have been pursuing a massive legislative package through the budget reconciliation process to enact Mr. Trump’s agenda, including resources to bolster border security, extend 2017 tax cuts, incentivize domestic manufacturing and invest in American energy, while working to pare government programs and address the debt limit. But top Republican leaders have appeared disjointed in how to proceed, prompting weeks of back and forth over whether to pursue a one- or two-bill approach.
Until now, Senate Republicans had deferred to the House to kick off the process, though they generally advocated the two-bill approach that would include an initial effort to quickly secure a border win, while stressing that the tax legislation would take time to write and should be addressed in a separate measure.
The budget reconciliation process allows Congress to fast-track certain types of legislation and avoid the 60-vote threshold typically required in the Senate. But it’s a complicated maneuver that comes with its own limitations on what can be included. In order to approve legislation using budget reconciliation, lawmakers must first approve a budget resolution, but the House has faced a backlash from conservatives in recent days over the legislation.
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Graham, the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said that while he appreciates “what the House is trying to do,” he thinks it’s important to get the money to implement Mr. Trump’s border security policy. He argued that “one big beautiful bill,” which Trump and House Republicans have said they prefer, is “too complicated.”
“It’s important we put points on the board,” Graham said, saying the president’s plan on border security is “running into a wall of funding.” He said Senate Republicans are discussing a bill with $150 billion for border security that he said would be paid for.
House Republican leaders outlined a timeline for the single-bill approach, which starts with the markup of a budget resolution that they aimed to hold this week — and a pledge to have the package on Trump’s desk before May. The timing would fall within the first 100 days of Trump’s second term, and allow for three vacancies in the House Republican ranks to be filled, improving their chances at winning approval for the bill.
House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters on Tuesday, as Senate Republicans began airing frustrations with the pace in the House, that “we are well within the margins of time that we have to work on and I’m very optimistic about it,” adding that “we’ve made a lot of progress.”
“The Senate will not take the lead,” Johnson said. “We’re going to take the lead, and we’re right on schedule.”
Johnson told reporters after Graham’s comments Wednesday that he would talk to him, calling the South Carolina Republican a “good friend,” while underscoring that “the House needs to lead this if we’re going to have success.”
Nikole Killion and
contributed to this report.
