Speaker Johnson's push to pass Trump's agenda in one massive bill faces big hurdles
Speaker Mike Johnson's plan to pass most of Donald Trump's agenda in one, big reconciliation bill faces major hurdles.
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson is laying out a highly ambitious strategy to answer President-elect Donald Trump’s call to pass his agenda in “one big, beautiful bill” — a plan that will test the limits of his wafer-thin Republican majority.
Johnson, R-La., said Sunday that the party-line bill will include provisions about border security, energy, manufacturing and tax policy. He also called for extending the debt ceiling in the same bill and passing it out of the House as early as the first week of April.
That is an exceptionally tall order for a tiny House majority of 219-215 that is expected to shrink even further in the coming months as two GOP members resign to join the Trump administration. When that happens, Johnson won’t be able to lose a single vote without needing help from Democrats until the seats are filled.
Republicans plan to use the budget “reconciliation” process to pass the massive Trump agenda package. That allows them to bypass the 60-vote threshold in the Senate, where Republicans have 53 seats — and after Jan. 20, a tiebreaking vote from incoming Vice President JD Vance — and can cut Democrats out of the process.
Key senators, including Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., have been pushing to break it up into two bills — allowing Republicans to score a quick victory on border funding and take some time to craft a second tax bill.
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