Republican leaders are still at odds with the reconciliation debate after the Trump meeting

House and Senate leaders left a meeting at the White House on Tuesday with varying levels of optimism about being able to fit their plans for a massive overhaul of Tory policy into a single bill.

“The reason the president talked about a big, beautiful bill, and the reason we’re talking about it, is because that’s the most efficient and effective way to do it,” the president said of the Chamber. Mike JohnsonR-La., told Fox News’ Sean Hannity after the meeting.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told reporters, “We are moving forward with a bill in the House.”

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“We’ve had a lot of briefings with members, but we’ve also been talking about this with President Trump,” Scalise said. “When you look at what gives us the best path to success — securing the border, lowering the cost of energy, and getting stable fiscal policy instead of a tax increase — all of those things we want to do. A bill is the best way to go.”

However, Senate Majority Leader John ThuneRS.D., which has advocated for a two-bill approach, expressed expectations when asked about Scalise’s comments.

“I think this discussion is always based on what we can do, and obviously we’re all interested in getting to the same destination,” Thune told reporters. “There’s a lot to do, and part of it is just figuring out how to stage it and what’s the best way to get all these results.”

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A Senate GOP leadership source dismissed suggestions from House leaders that the joint discussion resulted in broad agreement on an approach to a bill. Many Republicans in the upper chamber have maintained that their preference would be two reconciliation bills, even after Trump’s meeting with the Senate GOP earlier this month.

Addressing the debt limit, California wildfire aid and the March 14 government funding deadline were also topics that came up at Tuesday’s meeting.

The sit-in comes as congressional Republicans prepare for a massive overhaul of conservative policy through the budget reconciliation process. By lowering the threshold for approval in the Senate from 60 to 51 votes, the reconciliation allows the party that controls Congress and the White House to pass major policy changes, as long as they deal with budget and fiscal issues.

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GOP lawmakers are looking to use the reconciliation to pass sweeping measures on border security, government spending, defense, energy and to extend Trump’s tax cuts in 2017, with several key provisions of that bill expiring at the end of this year

Advocates of the two-bill approach, which include Thune and the House Freedom Caucus, argue that splitting their priorities into separate pieces of legislation will allow Republicans to score early victories on issues like border security and energy, which generally fuel less division within the GOP. , while leaving more time for complex matters such as taxes.

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Critics of that plan include members of the House Ways and Means Committee, who have warned that the complex political maneuvering required for reconciliation could put both bills out of reach, given the thin margins of the GOP in Congress.

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“The last time we had two was when Newt Gingrich was the speaker. He had a much larger majority. That was in 1997. We have a majority of one,” said committee representative Nicole Malliotakis , RN.Y., to reporters this month. .

Congress aims to get a reconciliation plan on Trump’s desk by spring, Scalise said Tuesday.