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President-elect Trump pointed to a strategic benefit of the one-size-fits-all bill approach to budget reconciliation which he has said he prefers during a closed-door meeting with Republican senators Wednesday evening at the Capitol.
By combining the legislation relating to both the southern border crisis and taxes in a reconciliation bill, Trump suggested that one issue could force some lawmakers to make a tough decision. For example, if a Republican does not support part of the tax component, they should also vote against the border provisions because they are in a measure.
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Trump outlined a strategic component of his one-bill reconciliation approach. (Getty Images)
With parts of Trump Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 which expires this year, the party wants to act quickly. But the 2025 tax debate is expected to be more divided among Republicans than the border debate. In particular, there is some disagreement in the party over deductions for state and local taxes (SALT), which may benefit some states more than others and have been slammed by some Republicans as inefficient.
“If someone, for example, in the House objects because there is no SAL in the tax deal or some other provision that they want, if that also means they would resist and vote against the border, it might be more difficult for them to do,” Sen. John Hoeven, RN.D., told Fox News Digital. “That’s a very valid point.”
While Trump himself did not bring up SALT as an example of this, a GOP senator mentioned it in a side conversation among other attendees as they went over the benefits of a single-bill approach, Hoeven said.
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Senator John Hoeven, RND, speaks on May 4, 2022 on Capitol Hill in Washington. Hoeven faces a defector from his own party and an underfunded Democrat on Tuesday, Nov. 8 in his race for a third term in the US Senate from North Dakota. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, file)
A source familiar with the matter told Fox News that Republicans are preparing to accept Trump’s preference for a single bill, but also maintain the potential for two bills, one on the border and one to address taxes, in the back pocket in case of any significant bill. obstacles
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, RSD, told Trump that if a bill was what he wanted, that’s what they would try first, the source said.
Some senators have their own preferences for two separate reconciliation bills, and some made their cases to Trump during the meeting. However, the conference will move forward with a focus on a Trump bill.
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Thune was “unyielding” in supporting Trump’s agenda as leader, one senator said. (Reuters)
Greenland, Canada and the Panama Canal came up during the discussion after Trump’s comments about each. Trump has recently said he wants the US to regain control of the critical trade route, the Panama Canal, while also expressing interest in making Greenland and Canada part of the US.
Sources in the know told Fox News that Trump brought them up himself during the meeting, telling senators at one point that these countries were “screwing” the US.
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to the media outside Rideau Cottage on Monday, Jan. 6, in Ottawa. (AP/Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
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Several Republican senators took the opportunity to tell Trump that his comments about Canada were “transformative,” the sources said.
Senators believe his approach to Canada is already changing the country’s “behavior” and may have even contributed to the recent resignation of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the sources added.
