: The Senate will look to beat House Republicans to the punch next week on plans to enact President Donald Trump’s agenda via the budget reconciliation process.
Ahead of a weekly lunch meeting hosted by Senate Steering Committee Chairman Rick Scott, R-Fla., a plan was unveiled by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to push for a committee vote next week on a first bill, with plans for an additional reconciliation bill later in the year, a Senate Republican source told Fox News Digital.
The first bill would include Trump’s priorities for border security, fossil fuel energy and national defense. The second bill would focus on extending Trump’s tax policies from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).
Senior White House staffers were also present at the Wednesday lunch, the source said.
It comes amid some infighting within the House GOP about what level of spending cuts to seek in order to offset the costs of Trump’s priorities. An expected vote this week to advance a resolution through the House Budget Committee is now likely poised for next week as well.
The first step in the reconciliation process is marking up and advancing a bill through the Senate and House budget committees.
House leaders had intended to make the first move in the process. The Senate passing their own bill first, however, would essentially force the lower chamber to contend with whatever product comes from the other side of Capitol Hill rather than start from a position of their own choosing.
It would also shift gears to a two-pronged reconciliation bill blueprint, something opposed by the House Ways & Means Committee and House GOP leaders.
Proponents of the one-bill approach are concerned about leaving Trump’s tax cuts, which expire at the end of this year, on the back burner. House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., previously referenced the fact that Republicans have not passed two reconciliation bills in one year since the 1990s, when they had a much larger majority.
Trump has said he prefers ‘one big, beautiful bill,’ but would be open to two.
Graham has notably been liaising with the House Freedom Caucus leaders on the subject all week, two sources told Fox News Digital. The caucus has preferred a two-pronged approach, in line with many Senate Republicans.
By lowering the threshold for Senate passage from 60 votes to 51 out of 100, reconciliation allows the party in power to skirt its opposition to advance its agenda – provided the items included relate to budgetary and other fiscal matters. The House of Representatives already has a simple majority threshold.
But with razor-thin margins in the House and Senate, Republicans can afford precious little dissent to still get their priorities over the finish line.
Spending hawks on the House Budget Committee had balked at multiple offers by GOP leaders on a ‘floor’ for cutting back federal funding, calling for the baseline to be set at least at $2 trillion.
They’re also seeking assurances that House GOP leaders have a firm plan in place for those cuts.
Multiple House Republicans leaving their Wednesday morning conference meeting signaled they were growing anxious about the Senate jamming them with their own reconciliation bill.
‘I think there’s a lot of frustration right now,’ one House GOP lawmaker said. ‘There’s some concern now that if we don’t move forward with something soon, that the Senate is going to jam us.’
‘What we’re worried about is losing the opportunity. I think we’re more likely to cut than they are,’ a second GOP lawmaker said.
Johnson brushed off concerns that the Senate will act first in comments to reporters earlier this week, maintaining the House will take the initial step.