Republican leaders still at odds on reconciliation debate after Trump meeting

House and Senate leaders left a meeting at the White House on Tuesday with varying levels of optimism about being able to fit their plans for a massive conservative policy overhaul into one bill.

“The reason the president talked about the one big, beautiful bill, and the reason we talk about it as well, is because that’s the most efficient and effective way to get it done,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told Fox News’ Sean Hannity after the meeting.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told reporters, “We’re moving forward with one bill on the House.”

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Republicans are not necessarily on the same page just yet about budget reconciliation. (Reuters)

“We’ve had a lot of member briefings, but we’ve also been talking about this with President Trump,” Scalise said. “When you look at what gives us the best path to success – to secure the border, lower energy cost and get stable tax policy instead of a tax increase – all of those things we want to do. One bill’s the best path.”

However, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who has advocated for a two-bill approach, couched expectations when asked about Scalise’s comments.

“I think that discussion is always predicated on what we can get done, and we’re obviously all interested in getting to the same destination,” Thune told reporters. “There’s a lot to do, and part of it is just figuring how to stage it, and what’s the best way to get all those results.”

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Sen. John Thune previously expressed his inclination toward two bills. (Getty Images)

One Senate GOP leadership source pushed back on House leaders’ suggestions that the outcome of the joint discussion was broad agreement on a one-bill approach. Many Republicans in the upper chamber have maintained that their preference would be two reconciliation bills, even after Trump’s meeting with the Senate GOP earlier this month. 

Dealing with the debt limit, California wildfire aid and the March 14 government funding deadline were also topics that arose at the Tuesday meeting.

The sit-down comes as congressional Republicans are preparing for a massive conservative policy overhaul through the budget reconciliation process. By lowering the threshold for passage in the Senate from 60 votes to 51, reconciliation allows the party controlling Congress and the White House to pass broad policy changes — provided they deal with budgetary and other fiscal matters.

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House Speaker Mike Johnson has supported a one-bill approach. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

GOP lawmakers are angling to use reconciliation to pass sweeping measures on border security, government spending, defense, energy and to extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts – with several key provisions from that bill expiring at the end of this year.

Advocates of the two-bill approach, which include Thune and the House Freedom Caucus, argue that splitting their priorities into separate pieces of legislation will allow Republicans to score early wins on issues like border security and energy, which generally fuel less division within the GOP, while leaving more time for complex matters like taxes.

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Newt Gingrich was the 50th speaker of the House from 1995 to 1998. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

Critics of that plan include members of the House Ways & Means Committee, who have warned that the complex political maneuvering needed for reconciliation could put two bills out of reach, given the GOP’s razor-thin margins in Congress.

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“The last time we had two was when Newt Gingrich was the speaker. He had a much larger majority. That was 1997. We have a majority of one,” committee member Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., told reporters this month.

Congress is aiming to get a reconciliation plan on Trump’s desk by spring, Scalise said Tuesday.