Congressional leaders emerged from two separate meetings at the White House Tuesday without a clear path forward on President Donald Trump‘s agenda.
Trump first met privately with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and his Senate counterpart, Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), refereeing a cross-chamber dispute over whether to sweep all of his priorities into “one big, beautiful bill,” as Trump prefers, or break it into two parts.
Trump then huddled with their entire leadership teams before briefing the press on a $500 billion investment in artificial intelligence in the United States.
House leaders arrived back at the Capitol suggesting a breakthrough from the meetings, with Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) telling reporters that Republicans had settled on the one-bill approach.
Johnson reinforced that message in a separate interview, calling the outcome a bicameral plan that is “pretty well formulated now.”
“The party is working in unison. The leaders in both chambers are working in a bicameral fashion, and the president is all on board,” he said.
Under that approach, Congress would renew Trump’s 2017 tax cuts by Memorial Day alongside legislation on the border, defense, and energy.
Thune offered a far more measured answer on timing, however, when asked about Scalise’s comments, telling reporters the one-bill approach “is always predicated on what we can get done.” The Senate has instead proposed moving the defense and border portions first, fearing it could take months to negotiate the tax bill.
“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,” he said.
When asked if Republicans had decided that staging, Thune quipped that “there are lots of great theories but, you know, it’s always different when you have to translate that into practice.”
The comments across both chambers suggest Republicans still cannot agree on the finer details of how to get Trump’s priorities through Congress. In the House, Johnson has a two-seat majority and different factions drawing red lines on tax reform.
Meanwhile, the Senate is subject to strict rules that limit what the GOP can pass without running into the 60-vote filibuster.
Trump told reporters after the meetings that Republicans had “pretty much” agreed to one bill.
“I think we have a good situation,” he said on Tuesday.
But it appears Senate Republicans will continue crafting their border and defense legislation separately in the interim, viewing it as a “contingency plan” that can pass in the coming weeks if the House struggles to enact tax reform.
Republicans have a daunting set of challenges ahead, with a March 14 deadline to fund the government approaching alongside a June fiscal cliff on the debt ceiling.
Trump floated the idea of tying California wildfire aid to a hike in the debt limit at his meeting with congressional Republicans, according to one source familiar with the deliberations, later voicing support for the idea at his press conference.
“It’s been made somewhat simpler by Los Angeles because they’re going to need a lot of money and, generally speaking, I think you’ll find a lot of Democrats are going to be asking for help,” Trump said.
He also addressed reports that he brought up confirming his Cabinet nominees using recess appointments at the White House meetings.
“I don’t think it’s gonna be needed,” Trump said at the press conference, pointing to the confirmation of Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday. “Marco as you know got passed overwhelmingly with 99 to nothing, which is pretty amazing.”
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Trump met separately with Republicans in each chamber in the weeks before he was inaugurated, including a Sunday breakfast with the Senate GOP, but the Tuesday meetings represent an early attempt to get both chambers on the same page now that his second term has begun.
Johnson, for his part, has stayed in regular contact with Thune, including repeated meetings at the Capitol this past month.
