Four hurdles facing Republicans as they shift focus to a bill to pass Trump's agenda
Medicaid cuts, a potential $4.6 trillion asterisk, a House-Senate divide, and a major debt ceiling question loom over Speaker Johnson's push to pass the massive bill by Easter.
WASHINGTON — The Republican-led Congress returns Monday after a weeklong recess with plans to shift focus to the party-line bill to pass President Donald Trump's multitrillion-dollar agenda after having dispensed with a separate government funding deadline.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has set a target of passing the legislation through the House in April before the Easter recess, which leaves Republicans in the House with three weeks — and a lot of work. And then the bill would go to the Senate, which has a different idea of how to proceed.
Republicans control a narrow House majority of 218-213 and a Senate majority of 53-47. They are using the budget "reconciliation" process, which allows them to bypass a 60-vote threshold in the Senate and remove Democrats from the equation.
"Now, our focus returns to delivering President Trump’s full America First agenda," Johnson said in a joint statement Monday with House Republican leaders and committee chairs. "The House is determined to send the president one big, beautiful bill that secures our border, keeps taxes low for families and job creators, grows our economy, restores American energy dominance, brings back peace through strength, and makes government more efficient and more accountable to the American people."
Here are four hurdles they face.
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