House Republican leadership on Friday met to discuss budget reconciliation bills ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration, a sign that the new GOP-controlled Congress is determined to act quickly on his agenda, reports Politico.
House Committee on Ways and Means Chair Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., met with Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., in his office, and Johnson's senior policy adviser, Derek Theurer, was seen exiting Johnson's office during that time, according to the news outlet.
The budget reconciliation process will allow Republicans to get around the 60-vote legislative filibuster in the Senate that typically forces bipartisanship on major items.
It is generally used when one party controls Congress and the White House.
The focus of Johnson and Smith's discussion centered around disagreements between Smith and incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., on how to start the reconciliation process.
Thune wants Congress to move first on a budget reconciliation package that would be focused on border security and defense and then, later in the year, on a second reconciliation package to extend the expiring Trump-era tax cuts.
Smith wants everything in one bill.
"The other piece that people are underestimating is we are very similarly situated in the House like the Senate in past reconciliations," House Budget Chair Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas — who was also seen in the speaker's office Friday morning — told Politico. "Now they have a bigger margin than we do. So, it's going to be a bigger challenge for us to get to a magic number to pass it with only a two-seat margin. And the more policies you put into the mix, the more you can attract different constituencies."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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