With Cabinet confirmation hearings set to begin next week, President-elect Donald Trump urged Republicans in the Senate on Wednesday to maintain "great unity" to confirm his nominations and advance his priorities on taxes, energy, and the border with no delay.
While Republicans are eager to get Trump's "America First" agenda through as quickly as possible, a divide exists within the GOP on whether Trump's plans are better served by dividing the priorities into two packages or attempting to get them through Congress all at once.
A razor-thin margin in the House means Republicans can't afford any defectors.
"We had a great meeting. There's great unity. Whether it's one bill or two bills, it's going to get done one way or the other," Trump told reporters after his meeting with GOP Senators Wednesday. "I think there's a lot of talk about two [bills], and there's a lot of talk about one, but it doesn't matter. The end result is the same," he added describing the conversation with his fellow Republicans as "really united" and "very strong."
The Senate prefers a two-bill approach, putting national security and energy production first and then presenting a separate bill to address taxes and spending. The House, meanwhile, has been working to combine all of Trump's top priorities into one package.
"The House Republican Conference is broad and wide, over 200 people with lots of different opinions and dynamics in their districts at home," House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Wednesday. "You've got to take that into account, and we will. And so I think if you put all the measures into one package, it increases greatly the probability of us achieving all of those objectives. And that's why we've been focused on the one-bill strategy."
Trump was confident both chambers will come to a solution.
"We'll get something done," he said.
Trump also has urged the Senate to stick together on his Cabinet nominees, some of whom have come up against criticism from moderate Republicans.
The Senate will convene Tuesday to begin hearings on two Trump's Cabinet nominations: Defense Secretary pick Pete Hegseth and Attorney General pick Pam Bondi. Hegseth has long advocated for dialing back the Pentagon's "woke" policies and has pushed for an overhaul of many of the modern military's progressive policies and firing the senior staff who have implemented them.
The Senate will then hear from Bondi, former Florida attorney general.
Hegseth is expected to be the more contentious of the first two picks, yet sources told the New York Post there are "zero" Republicans looking to prevent his confirmation.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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