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President-elect Donald Trump’s winter White House hosts a parade of House Republicans this weekend, all of whom hope the incoming commander’s ear will help an ideologically diverse group of lawmakers get on the same page in a massive overhaul of conservative politics. .
It is also likely to be another test of Trump’s power over congressional Republicans and whether his influence will be enough to overcome long-standing fissures on fiscal policy.
“The president is accommodating to multiple factions, right? It’s not just anyone. The goal is to establish a level of understanding of what we can accomplish,” one GOP lawmaker told Fox News Digital. “No one broadly agrees with the big goals. But there are very specific issues that will create concerns for people. And we have to work on them.”
On Friday, Trump is hosting members of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, many of whom voted against a government funding bill the president-elect explicitly supported last month.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson, left, and other House Republicans will speak with President-elect Donald Trump over the weekend after he convened several groups for a series of meetings. (Getty/AP)
He is also scheduled to meet with key House committee chairs and Republicans, as well as Republican lawmakers from blue states.
It comes amid disagreements among congressional Republicans over the way forward budget reconciliation process. Generally, the mechanism has allowed a party that controls the government to advance its own agenda through a massive bill.
More specifically, the reconciliation lowers the Senate’s 60-vote threshold to just a simple majority, putting it on par with the House of Representatives.
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Conciliation only allows budgetary measures and other fiscal measures to be approved. However, both sides have traditionally tried to stretch these parameters to advance as much of their agendas as possible. GOP leaders have indicated they want to use reconciliation to deal with it border securityenergy policy, defense and to extend Trump’s tax cuts in 2017.
However, there is wide disagreement about whether to split these goals in half. Proponents of the two-track approach believe passing an initial bill on border and energy policies will allow Republicans to score an early win there while spending more time on tax policy.
The meetings will be at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. (Getty Images)
However, those advocating for just one bill argue that two reconciliation bills have not passed in decades, given the huge political capital required for either. They have warned that the strategy could put Trump’s tax cuts in danger of expiring.
The House GOP conference is also at odds over other details, such as whether to use the reconciliation to raise the limit on state and local tax deductions (SALT), a move favored by blue-state Republicans who represent the suburbs of New York City and Los Angeles. , but that rural representatives are against it.
“I think it’s going to be a good discussion. I think this is a great opportunity for us to talk about not just SAL … It was just about, you know, blue state Republicans coming in with our priorities.” , said Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, RN. Y.
The Big Apple’s new congestion tax, tax cuts for seniors living off Social Security and using the tax code to bring pharmaceutical manufacturing back to the US were all topics Malliotakis named.
“I have much broader agenda items than just SALT, but SALT is very important to members in New York in particular,” he said.
Representative Barry Moore, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, suggested the border would be at the forefront of his mind for the Trump meeting of his caucus.
“The biggest thing is, how are we going to move forward? It’s going to cost us some money to secure our border. It’s going to cost us some money to hire more agents. But at the same time, we have to cut spending where we can,” Moore told Fox News Digital.
“We have to be on the same page and I think we’ll have an opportunity for Trump to hear from us, but also for us to hear from him.”
Rep. Russell Fry, RSC, a staunch Trump ally who said he would also be at Mar-a-Lago this weekend, dismissed concerns about differences on issues like SALT.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis is one of the blue-state Republicans meeting with President-elect Donald Trump. (Drew Anger/Getty Images)
“I think that dialogue is important to have. At the end of the day, we have to answer to the American people. And so even though people feel differently on various issues, it’s important to have that dialogue to figure out how we can put this thing together,” he said.
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Trump himself has not publicly stated the details of what he would like to happen for reconciliation. he said favors a single-bill approachbut it would also be open to two.
Malliotakis and other Republicans on the tax-focused House Ways and Means Committee favor a bill.
However, one member of the House Freedom Caucus doubted that would happen.
“I think we will talk about general things in terms of reconciliation. I am of the mindset that it will probably be two bills, not one. But I think that will happen organically, there is no need to force it,” they said.
