Republicans grapple with Trump’s stance on tax cuts and spending

Republicans are divided on what strategy to take to advance the Trump administration’s agenda, and some want more input from President-elect Donald Trump, while others are willing to go it alone.

Before Republicans can mobilize and fully elaborate on what will or will not pass through the filibuster-proof budget reconciliation process, they need to know whether they have a colossal bill to work on, or they can divide Mr. Trump’s agenda between two bills. .

Congressional leaders are divided on what approach to take. Mr. Trump has been in and out of Congress in recent days, but has not taken a firm stance with either party.

“I like big, beautiful bills and I always have, always will,” Mr. Trump said Tuesday. “If two is safer, it goes a little faster because you can do the immigration paperwork sooner.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Republican of South Dakota, and some members of his conference want to take the two-bill route, which could advance key items on Ms. agenda much more quickly. .Trump, like funding border security.

Mr. Trump will be at the Capitol and meet with Republican senators on Wednesday evening. The reconciliation agenda and process will likely be the main topic.

Meanwhile, House Republicans largely favor a single bill, which would take much longer to advance than splitting the legislative load between two measures.

“We remain convinced here that the one-bill strategy is the best path forward, but some senators have different ideas,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said.

Mr. Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, and Mr. Thune were scheduled to meet Tuesday to discuss the disparate approaches. A big gift for Mr. Thune, who celebrated his 64th birthday on Tuesday, would be to emerge from the discussion with a unified plan.

Using the budget reconciliation process allows the Republican Party to avoid a filibuster by Democrats in the Senate, which could derail their plans to advance the most critical elements of Mr. Trump’s agenda. Highlights such as extending the 2017 tax cuts, securing the southern border and boosting U.S. energy production are expected to be part of the legislative plan.

Although the Republican Party is united in advancing its agenda, Mr. Trump’s lack of a clear position on strategy has some Republicans calling on the president-elect to make a strong choice to speed up the process.

Senator Thom Tillis said Mr. Trump “will have to be more forceful” in guiding GOP leaders toward consensus on strategy.

“None of this will happen without leadership from the White House,” the North Carolina Republican said. “The margins are just too thin here. President Trump gets MVP status for resolving the president’s vote, and we’ll need him to serve as MVP to move these bills forward.

Asked about Mr. Trump’s hesitation on one bill versus two, Mr. Tillis said it was probably because he was getting a lot of feedback from people outside Capitol Hill who were not involved in the legislation.

“He needs to hear from the people who will have to take on this task. And I think he will,” Mr. Tillis said.

Members of the House Freedom Caucus, like their Senate counterparts, favored the two-bill route because it would speed up the legislative process, particularly when it comes to moving border laws.

Representative Michael Cloud, a member of the hard-line caucus, told the Washington Times that ultimately it is more important to execute Mr. Trump’s agenda rather than “thinking about what decision to make.”

“Whatever the game call is, it would be helpful for us to have clarity,” the Texas Republican said.

Many Republicans just want to get the job done, and quickly, and don’t care whether the plan is to pass one bill or two.

“I don’t think there’s a need to force either solution,” said Rep. Andy Ogles, Republican of Tennessee. “I think when you prioritize what you want to accomplish (and) when, it will happen organically, the process will take care of itself.”

However, to begin the reconciliation process, Republicans must first pass corresponding budget resolutions in each chamber, providing instructions to committees. Although these instructions do not necessarily need to specify which policies are included or excluded, they do require identifying revenue or expenditure targets and the amount that should come from each jurisdictional committee.

Sen. John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, said he doesn’t care if Republicans present their agenda in “one, two or ten” bills, as long as it gets done.

“It’s all about math,” he said, referring to the ability to pass the bill through both chambers with few votes to spare given the Republican Party’s narrow majorities.

The House has a narrower majority and will have a zero vote cushion for the first few months after the inauguration, when two members leave for the Trump administration. If they wait until later in the spring to pass a larger bill, they will likely regain a two-vote margin after a special election to fill vacancies.

Regardless, House Republican leaders believe that keeping all items on the agenda will make voting disputes easier because there will be more to like than to dislike about the measure. Some senators who have previously served in the House, like Sen. Markwayne Mullin, seem to better appreciate the House’s position.

“The dynamics of the House are going to make it difficult to pass two bills,” the Oklahoma Republican said.

Asked whether it would help if Mr. Trump intervened more forcefully, Mr. Mullin replied: “Absolutely not.”

“He’s letting Congress do what it wants, and that’s what’s going to happen here,” he said.