Republican Senators Break With House Over Trump Tax Cuts Strategy
(Bloomberg) -- Senate Republicans broke with their House counterparts on pivotal budget legislation to carry out President Donald Trump’s agenda Wednesday after weeks of rising frustration with House Speaker Mike Johnson’s inability to overcome ideological infighting among lawmakers.
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The Senate plan, announced Wednesday, would delay action on tax cuts until Congress passes a second so-called budget reconciliation package. Key provisions of the 2017 tax package enacted during Trump’s first term expire at the end of this year.
But the strategy would accelerate Republicans’ efforts to give Trump more resources to expand his crackdown on undocumented migrants, possibly delivering additional funds within weeks.
The Senate plan conflicts with a strategy Johnson has set to combine many of Trump’s top legislative priorities, ranging from immigration measures to tax cuts, into a single bill in order to make it harder for bitterly divided House Republicans defect.
Trump will meet with Republican lawmakers Thursday to discuss the budget resolution, the White House said in a notice posted just after midnight, Washington time. The public schedule of Trump’s planned events didn’t include a list of attendees for the meeting.
Trump’s opinion on a legislative pathway could be decisive, given the substantial political sway he holds over his party at the start of his second term in office. However, the president has so far stayed out of the dispute on mechanics for how to enact his agenda. He has repeatedly said he would like one “big, beautiful bill” but would also be fine with a multiple bill approach too.
Divergent plans
The Senate budget calls for about $150 billion in new spending over four years for border security and immigration enforcement, with a similar amount added for defense, Republican Lindsey Graham, the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, told reporters. Congressional committees would be instructed to find savings elsewhere to make up the cost.
Graham said he hopes the approach will allow Congress to provide the extra money quickly though lawmakers still must overcome myriad disagreements.
Johnson has argued that Republican lawmakers are more likely to set aside divergent demands on spending cuts, raising the limit on state and local tax deductions and other matters if faced with an up-or-down vote on Trump’s agenda.
But more than a month after Republican lawmakers were sworn in, Johnson hasn’t yet come up with a coherent budget plan amid ideological disputes roiling his members. With a tiny Republican margin of control in the House, only a few defections would doom any bill.
Asked about Graham’s announcement, the speaker said he will discuss the matter with his Senate counterpart, Majority Leader John Thune.
“It’s a very different chamber with very different dynamics and the House needs to lead this and we’re going to have success,” Johnson said.
The House is “getting there and we’re going to find that equilibrium point and get this done so stay tuned,” he added.
Senator John Barrasso, the No. 2 Senate Republican, urged his colleagues to move swiftly to bolster Trump’s immigration and defense goals.
With Trump’s cabinet nominees to lead the efforts confirmed, “Congress must now ensure they have the resources they need,” Barrasso said in a speech on the Senate floor.
(Updates with Trump meeting plans in fifth paragraph.)
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