The Republican effort in Congress to pass President Donald Trump's energy, border and tax plans hit a new snag on Tuesday as House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) effectively shut down efforts by Senate Republicans to go around him and revise the legislative approach.
According to Punchbowl News' Jake Sherman, Johnson "indicated in a private meeting of the Elected Leadership Committee Monday afternoon that he would NOT bring up" the budget plan outlined by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), even "if it passed the Senate."
As Republicans want to pass Trump's agenda on a party-line basis, they must do it through budget reconciliation, which prevents Democrats from using a filibuster in the Senate but limits the subject matter to things that directly impact the budget.
The fundamental disagreement is that Senate Republicans, including Graham, are leaning toward a two-bill approach, where first Republicans pass a budget resolution dealing with energy and the border, and then pass a second resolution that includes all of their tax proposals, including extending the cuts passed in Trump's 2017 bill, to maximize the likelihood that at least portions of the agenda will pass.
However, the House, along with Trump himself, want everything packed into one bill, so that disparate provisions can be used as leverage to get hardliners like the House Freedom Caucus on board with spending items they don't like.
Over the past week, Graham — frustrated with the lack of progress on creating a unified bill in the House — has been trying to marshal support for the two-bill approach, working directly with the Freedom Caucus to try to hash out what they are willing to pass.
Johnson's new statements, however, appear to shut the door on this, setting back negotiations.
House Republican lawmakers in Congress are set this morning to hold a conference meeting on the status of their plans, Sherman reported.