House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and a group of House Republicans are meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House Thursday as the lower chamber looks to pass a budget bill to advance Trump's legislative agenda.
The White House and Senate Republicans are growing frustrated as they wait for the House Republican Conference to find common ground and pass a bill, Punchbowl News reported.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the chair of the Senate Budget Committee, said he was going to mark up his $300 billion budget plan, even though Johnson said the House needed to move first, according to Punchbowl.
Graham and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., want to give Trump a win by passing a bill that focuses on defense spending, energy policy, and securing the border while waiting until later in the year to extend the tax cuts passed during Trump's first term.
House Republicans, led by Johnson, prefer to include the tax cuts into one big reconciliation package, believing one bill is easier to pass than two, particularly with the GOP's razor-thin majority. Punchbowl believes a two-bill approach would lead to the House working on extending the tax cuts well into the fall.
Graham and Thune said during a Senate GOP lunch they had little faith in Johnson and House Republican leadership getting anything done, Punchbowl reported.
Conservative hard-liners, like Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., told Johnson during a meeting Wednesday that they would also prefer to pass two bills rather than one, Punchbowl said.
Trump has deferred to Johnson's one-bill strategy, though there are Trump aides who agree with Graham's approach, Punchbowl reported.
House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith, R-Mo., said Graham is wasting his time on a process that won't go anywhere, according to Punchbowl.