House and Senate Republicans are racing each other this week to see who can advance President Trump’s sprawling domestic agenda, as the two chambers move forward with their contrasting legislative strategies.
In the House, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Republicans are vowing to keep working on a budget resolution to advance Trump’s priorities in a single bill, despite such an agreement eluding them for days. The chamber is set to blow through another self-imposed deadline as lawmakers remain at odds over key issues.
In the Senate, meanwhile, top Republicans are moving on an effort to advance Trump’s agenda in two separate bills, as the conference grows impatient with the House’s lack of progress.
The chamber vs. chamber battle comes as GOP lawmakers are eager to enact items of Trump’s wish list, but remain in disagreement over the best strategy to do so — with neither side willing to back down.
Also this week, the Senate will hold votes on more of Trump’s Cabinet nominees, including Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence, one of the president’s most controversial picks. And the House Foreign Affairs Committee is set to hold a hearing on the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
House GOP continues work on budget resolution
House Republicans will continue working toward an agreement on a budget resolution this week, a product that has so far eluded the group amid disagreements over spending cuts.
Johnson told reporters last week — before departing for Louisiana to attend the Super Bowl with Trump — that the plan was for the House Budget Committee to mark up a budget resolution this week, as early as Tuesday, kicking off the reconciliation process.
During an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” however, Johnson said that while the conference was “very, very close” to landing an agreement for a budget resolution, the group would again blow through their self-imposed deadline.
“We were going to do a Budget Committee markup next week. We might push it a little bit further, because the details really matter,” Johnson said. “Remember that I have the smallest margin in history — about a two-vote margin currently. So I’ve got to make sure everyone agrees before we bring the project forward, the final product, and we’ve got a few more boxes to check. But we’re getting very, very close.”
The delay is another black eye for Johnson, who laid out an ambitious timeline to enact Trump’s agenda but has failed to meet the targets thus far. The stakes, however, are rising — as the House struggles to find a path forward on its single reconciliation bill, Senate Republicans are moving forward with their two-track plan, with the two chambers headed on a collision course.
On Sunday, Johnson reiterated that “the House has to drive this process, and we will,” adding, “We’re going to get everybody together.”
It remains unclear where negotiations currently stand. Johnson did spend time with Trump at the Super Bowl on Sunday, as planned. The Speaker told reporters he would discuss reconciliation with the president at the big game.
When lawmakers left the Capitol last week, a number of key issues remained unresolved in the House GOP’s reconciliation effort. Lawmakers, for example, said there were still questions about raising the state and local tax deduction cap, which Trump said he wants to do, and increasing the debt ceiling. Johnson, however, signaled that the debt limit would likely make it in the bill.
Senate GOP to mark up budget resolution
On the Senate side, meanwhile, the Budget Committee is scheduled to mark up its own budget resolution for the first of two planned Trump agenda bills, moving on its own reconciliation strategy as the House struggles to reach an agreement.
The measure — which Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) unveiled last week — would provide $175 billion to secure the U.S. southern border and $150 to reinforce national defense. It would increase annual spending by $85.5 billion and be paid for by $85.5 billion in budgetary offsets.
The chamber plans to mark up the resolution Wednesday.
If the Senate agrees to the measure, and the House follows suit, Republicans will unlock the budget reconciliation process, which will allow GOP lawmakers to enact Trump’s agenda by circumventing the Democratic filibuster in the Senate. After the border-defense package, Senate Republicans would then move another piece of legislation to extend the 2017 Trump tax cuts.
Graham rolled out the resolution last week, as the House continued to struggle to come to an agreement on its own budget resolution, which would cram all of Trump’s priorities into one single bill.
On Fox News on Sunday, Johnson made note of the difficulties he faces in the House compared to the dynamics in the Senate.
“I appreciate the Senate zeal. We have it in the House as well. But as I reminded my friend, Lindsey, I have about 170 additional personalities to deal with and he’s only got 53 on the Republican side there. We have, you know, a very diverse caucus with lots of interests, but we are going to get this job done,” Johnson said.
Senate to vote on more Trump nominees
The Senate will vote on more of Trump’s Cabinet nominees this week — including two of his most controversial picks.
On Monday, the chamber will hold a procedural vote for Gabbard’s nomination to be director of national intelligence, after the former congresswoman advanced out of committee in a party-line 9-8 vote.
Gabbard has drawn criticism for her 2017 visit with former then-Syrian President Bashar Assad, her comments about Edward Snowden, and remarks regarding the Russia-Ukraine war.
Despite moving out of committee, Gabbard’s nomination is not completely out of the woods yet. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is seen as a likely “no” vote, while Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah) signaled he had more “questions” about her confirmation after her hearing. Assuming all Democrats vote against Gabbard, she can only afford to lose three Republicans and still be confirmed.
Additionally, the Senate is expected to hold a procedural vote on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to be secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. The former presidential candidate — who has drawn scrutiny for his vaccine skepticism — advanced out of committee in a 14-13 vote earlier this month, though several Republican senators remain wild cards when his nomination hits the floor for a final vote.
Aside from those two picks, the Senate will hold procedural votes on Howard Lutnick’s nomination to be secretary of Commerce, Brooke Rollins’s nomination to be secretary of Agriculture and Kelly Loeffler’s nomination to be administrator of the Small Business Administration.
On the committee level, the Senate Judiciary Committee is set to vote Thursday on Kash Patel’s nomination to be FBI director. Patel has drawn controversy for previous comments about how he would run the agency and if he would carry out retribution.
House GOP to hold USAID hearing
The House Foreign Affairs Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on USAID this week, amid the Trump administration’s effort to shutter the agency.
The hearing, titled “The USAID Betrayal,” is scheduled to take place 8:30 a.m. EST Thursday. Former Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) and William “Bill” Steiger, the former chief of staff for USAID, are set to testify. Yoho previously chaired the committee’s Asia-Pacific subcommittee.
The hearing comes after Democrats on the Foreign Affairs Committee called on Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), the chair of the panel, to hold a hearing with senior Trump officials on the dismantling of USAID, raising alarm about the effort. They have asked to question Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Last week, USAID staff had reportedly been reduced to roughly 300 employees, a significant decline from a workforce that was estimated to be about 10,000.
