President-elect Donald Trump has invited several groups of House Republicans to join him at Mar-a-Lago next weekend, three sources involved in the planning told NBC News.
Trump’s team worked with President Mike Johnson’s leadership team to finalize which members would be invited, the sources said.
Between January 10 and 12, members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, state legislators affected by the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap, key committee chairs and other groups of Republicans will visit Trump at his Florida residence. just days before his inauguration for a second term.
The trips to Mar-a-Lago come after a tense vote Friday, in which Trump had to personally convince at least two holdouts to support Johnson’s re-election. It also comes as Republicans prepare to pass a sweeping reconciliation plan later this spring, which will likely include an expansion of Trump’s 2017 tax law.
Trump wants to make sure Republican lawmakers across the ideological spectrum are united and on the same page with his ambitious legislative agenda, two of the sources added.
A spokesperson for Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to requests for comment on next weekend’s visits.
Divisions between the party’s various factions were on display after Friday’s presidential vote, when members of the Freedom Caucus released a letter saying they voted for Johnson “because of our unwavering support for President Trump.”
They added: “We did so despite our sincere reservations about the President’s record over the past 15 months. »
Along with Trump’s victory in November, Republican lawmakers retained control of the House and flipped control of the Senate, meaning the Republican Party will likely have an easier time advancing its agenda once Trump is inaugurated.
But in the House, Republicans have a fragile majority and can barely afford to lose a single vote in advancing Trump’s preferred legislation. This will require GOP House members to be almost unanimously united on their agenda.
Already in the first vote of the year, three Republican lawmakers — Reps. Keith Self of Texas, Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Ralph Norman of South Carolina — initially voted for someone other than Johnson as president.
Self and Norman changed their decisions within minutes of casting their first vote, ensuring Johnson’s victory.
Alexandra Marquez contributed.
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