{"id":38119,"date":"2025-02-06T01:12:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-06T07:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=38119"},"modified":"2025-02-06T04:37:50","modified_gmt":"2025-02-06T10:37:50","slug":"with-house-republicans-stuck-senate-pushes-ahead-with-its-plan-to-fund-trumps-agenda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=38119","title":{"rendered":"With House Republicans stuck, Senate pushes ahead with its plan to fund Trump’s agenda"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham said he wants to plow forward next week on a Senate-led funding package that bundles together border security and defense spending as the House continues to struggle on a path to advance President Donald Trump\u2019s agenda<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House and Senate Republicans have been at odds<\/a> for several months over whether to attempt to pass many of Trump\u2019s agenda items in one sweeping package or in two separate, smaller packages. Republicans hope to use a fast-track budget tool called reconciliation that would allow them to pass major budget-related measures without any Democratic support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While plans in the House to begin work on a proposal stalled this week, Graham seems to have grown impatient, telling senators Wednesday that the Senate will take the reins and begin work to advance its own package next week. Graham briefed senators on the package during a closed-door lunch on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Graham told reporters following the closed-door meeting that his proposal is a $300 billion budget resolution over the course of four years with $150 billion going to border security and defense spending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked why he was attempting to bypass the work his Republican colleagues in the House have been working on, Graham said it was because he didn\u2019t believe they had a proposal that would be able to pass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House Republicans have still not reached a clear consensus on the contours of their budget plan. Speaker Mike Johnson has been pushing for what he calls \u201cone, big beautiful bill.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Graham said, \u201cI’ve always believed that one big, beautiful bill is too complicated. What unites Republicans, for sure, is border security and more money for the military. It’s important we put points on the board \u2026 So I think it would be a real mistake for the Republican Congress not to give the Republican administration the money they need to execute the plan, and the only way to get that money is through reconciliation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson reacted to the news from Graham, saying, \u201cHe has to understand the reality of the House. It\u2019s a very different chamber with very different dynamics and the House needs to lead this if we are going to have success.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson said he plans to speak directly with Graham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are very comfortable about where we are. We feel very optimistic. We are getting there. And we are going to find an equilibrium point and get this done. Stay tuned,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House Republicans emerged from their closed-door conference meeting Wednesday with no clear consensus on advancing Trump\u2019s agenda.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Majority Leader Steve Scalise acknowledged leaders are still meeting with members to come to an agreement on a budget agreement. Leaders aimed to have a blueprint completed by the end of their retreat at Trump\u2019s club in Doral, Florida<\/a>, two weeks ago, but lawmakers remain far apart. Trump will hold a private dinner<\/a> for Republican senators at his Mar-A-Lago club on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think we’re stuck in the mud,\u201d Florida Rep. Byron Donalds said. \u201cIt is a paralysis of analysis, and I think at this point we need to just make a clear decision.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donalds, who said he supports a two-bill strategy, stood up in the meeting and called on GOP leadership to make a play call on reconciliation and stop stalling, according to sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI agree with a lot of people in the Senate,\u201d Donalds added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Texas Rep. Chip Roy said, \u201cWe\u2019re continuing to have the conversation we need to have and figuring out between Budget and Ways and Means [committees] what we need to do on tax policy and spending,\u201d on-camera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roy said he still supports the two-bill strategy but acknowledged, \u201cWe are where we are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe reason I wanted two bills is to bank a win, get it done and move quickly,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman said he thinks spending cuts should be more than $1 trillion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think the good news is there\u2019s a sense of urgency that was put on leadership today, and I think the president will be getting involved \u2026 sooner rather than later,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, he said, \u201cAs long as we delay in getting something, they [Senate] have had a right to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Rep. Andy Barr said he supports one bill, the plan endorsed by Johnson, saying, \u201cWe know we need to get to a resolution soon, because we don’t want to get jammed by the Senate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have a thin majority, and we need to make one decision for all Republicans to answer the question \u2018Are you with the president, or are you not?\u2019 And every Republican needs to be with this president,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

abcnews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham said he wants to plow forward next week on a Senate-led funding package that bundles together border security and defense spending as the House continues to struggle on a path to advance President Donald Trump\u2019s agenda. House and Senate Republicans have been at odds for several months over whether to attempt to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":38120,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[21502,1580,9517],"class_list":["post-38119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-house","tag-republicans","tag-stuck"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38119"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38119\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38121,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38119\/revisions\/38121"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/38120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}