GOP senators want nothing to do with Mike Johnson's latest plan: report
Reports that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is already busy fashioning another megabill after lawmakers survived a bruising battle to hand Donald Trump the one he wanted just weeks ago is not thrilling Senate Republicans.
According to Politico, Johnson and his inner circle want to push through "one more domestic policy package" that they believe can get passed in the GOP-controlled Senate despite the slim hold they have on the chamber.
The report notes that a" conservative Republican Study Committee has launched a 'Reconciliation 2.0' working group" tasked with coming up with the bill — and some GOP senators are already pushing back.
While Senate Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo (R-ID) is open to looking at it, another key GOP lawmaker, Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) stated, "You have to have a reason to do it. It’s not easy to do, so you have to have a purpose for doing it in the first place.”
Another lawmaker, who asked to remain anonymous, cast doubt on getting a second bill passed so soon after the previous one barely passed.
“Without the pressure, I don’t see how you get it done. I don’t think I see what the pressure is here," they said.
Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) pointed out, "My sense is that there’s more enthusiasm in the House than in the Senate, and that makes sense. They can do things with 51 votes anyway, most of what we have to do requires 60. And that means that senators, if you have a desire to actually legislate, need to find ways to legislate — and reconciliation is damaging to that relationship.”
The report notes that some Republican House members, who are on their summer break and still dealing with fallout from the recently passed bill which polls showed were highly unpopular with voters, aren't completely on board with another battle.
As one pointed out, “We did so much in the first. It’s going to be harder to do a second one.”
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