Republican lawmakers, already split on whether to pass President-elect Donald Trump's agenda in "one powerful bill" or to split it into two bills, saw their plans muddied somewhat Monday when Trump said he would also be open to a two-bill solution.
"There are going to be challenges in any way we do it," Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who has proposed a two-bill plan, told The Hill. "This is hard stuff — really hard stuff, very heavy lifting. A lot of hard work ahead of us, but it's got to get done."
Trump, in a Truth Social post on Sunday, said Congress is working on "one powerful Bill" for his agenda and called on Republicans to unite.
However, Trump, speaking with radio host Hugh Hewitt on Monday, said he favors one bill, but indicated that he's open to breaking it into two pieces of legislation.
"I also want to get everything passed, and there are some people that don't necessarily agree with it, so I'm open to that, also," Trump told Hewitt.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told Fox News on Sunday that Trump wants "one big, beautiful bill" using reconciliation.
"There's a lot of merit to that, because we can put it all together in one big up-or-down vote, which can save the country, quite literally, because there are so many elements to it, and it'll give us a little bit more time to negotiate that and get it right," Johnson said.
House and Senate Republicans agree that they intend to pass Trump's agenda through reconciliation, which would require only GOP votes while bypassing the Senate filibuster.
Thune's plan calls for one bill to deal with energy and the border, with a second bill to extend Trump's first-term tax cuts and other issues.
Johnson told reporters Monday that he has spoken with Trump and Thune, and that the "assumption right now" is that a single bill will move forward.
However, Johnson also cited disagreements in the Senate and said lawmakers are "figuring out the most efficient and efficacious way" to advance Trump's plans and said he "wouldn't get too wound up about what the exact strategy is."
Johnson also this weekend laid out a timeline to pass a single reconciliation bill, with aims to pass a budget resolution in early February and then pass a full package during the first week of April, which at least one GOP senator said may be too late.
"Delaying border security is a dangerous idea," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who will chair the Senate Budget Committee, adding that he would like to see a border bill passed by mid-February.
"If you can do it all in April, maybe it works, but I'm very leery," he said.
Florida has special elections planned on April 1 to replace Rep. Mike Waltz and former Rep. Matt Gaetz, with Republicans expected to fill those seats and add two votes for the package.
"That would put that bill on the president's desk for signature by the end of April," Johnson said Sunday. "That would be fantastic."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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