Congress
3 big moves for Trump’s agenda
Three big developments are poised to give Republican lawmakers long-sought clarity on how they can get moving on President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda — and when they need to finish.
Time to punt: As they rush to settle on a budget framework before Easter recess, Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune are signaling that they’ll move forward without resolving some major disputes over how to pay for Trump’s tax, border and energy policies — including controversial Medicaid cuts.
They’ll do that by approving a budget resolution that defers to each chamber’s respective committees for how much money they will need to trim from programs under their jurisdictions, and then try to merge the approaches later.
Tax clarity: The Senate parliamentarian is expected to decide in the coming days whether Republicans can use an accounting approach known as “current policy baseline” that would allow them to extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts in a costless fashion.
Thune said in an interview that Republicans need to know if the parliamentarian will green-light their strategy before taking their budget resolution to the floor, which they want to do as soon as next week.
Separately on Wednesday, House GOP tax writers met in private with Joint Committee on Taxation chief Thomas Barthold to discuss next steps on their tax package. The non-partisan JCT will have to weigh in on the cost of extending tax cuts and Trump’s other tax pledges, including eliminating taxes on tips and overtime work.
X marks the deadline: CBO announced Wednesday that the U.S. will default on its debt around August or September if Congress doesn’t act — in effect setting a new deadline for Republicans to pass Trump’s mega-bill if they stick with a plan to include a debt ceiling increase.
House Republicans are hoping the updated “X-date” lights a fire under the Senate GOP to speed things up.
“We all know Congress needs a deadline to get anything done,” said a senior House GOP aide granted anonymity to speak freely. “This is the new deadline.”
What else we’re watching:
- Schumer’s staying: Despite fury across the party over the shutdown fight, Democratic lawmakers and frustrated donors are making the calculation that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is here to stay. There’s no obvious alternative nor any appetite among most Senate Democrats for a messy leadership contest. Schumer is working to convince his members that he understands the need to ramp up their tactics, though it’s clear he still has some work to do.
- What’s next for Signalgate: Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker says he and his Democratic counterpart Jack Reed are looking into an expedited probe of the Signal chat breach involving top Trump administration officials. They are requesting a Pentagon inspector general review and a classified briefing for their committee.
- Trump’s SEC pick testifies: Paul Atkins, Trump’s pick to lead the SEC, will tell Senate Banking Thursday that establishing a “firm regulatory foundation” for cryptocurrency would be a top priority of his chairmanship. The nomination hearing is poised to be the latest illustration of the crypto industry’s ascendance in the Trump era, after it faced a regulatory crackdown from the SEC under President Joe Biden. Atkins, a longtime financial industry consultant and former SEC commissioner, is expected to face scrutiny from Democrats over his Wall Street ties.
President Donald Trump and top White House officials are privately lobbying Republican senators to delay a ban on intoxicating hemp that’s set to kick in this fall.
At the Trump administration’s urging, the government funding patch the Senate is working to pass this week would push off the forthcoming ban of some cannabis products derived from hemp. But several Republican senators are demanding a vote to strip the delay out and let that prohibition kick in come November.
They’re hearing from the White House about it.
Trump called Sen. Ted Budd on Tuesday night, after the North Carolina Republican filed an amendment to ensure the ban kicks in as mandated on Nov. 12, according to a Senate aide granted anonymity to describe the private discussion. On the call, the president discussed creating a federal regulatory framework for hemp but did not ask Budd to withdraw his amendment, the individual added.
“I’ve been asked by lots of people to stand down on this amendment,” Budd told reporters Wednesday.
Budd noted that the Trump administration has had almost nine months to come up with a plan for implementing the ban.
“So why all of a sudden pop up for some seemingly innocent delay?” he asked, accusing the White House of instead preparing to “jam this on some must-pass” funding package at year’s end to further delay the prohibition.
A White House official granted anonymity to discuss the private debate said the Trump administration is seeking “a modest four-week delay” through the Dec. 11 expiration of the funding patch “to allow for productive conversations to continue.” Some synthetic cannabis products would be permanently banned in the meantime, the official added.
The administration lobbying has successfully swayed some Senate Republicans, such as Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who said in an interview that “the White House has committed to me that they’re committed to regulate the industry.”
Republican Sen. Rand Paul of hemp-rich Kentucky said the issue came up “in a big way” during Senate Republicans’ private lunch meeting Wednesday. Paul said he spoke in support of delaying the ban and said those arguing for a delay “aren’t very rational.”
“They’re wanting to hold up the funding for the government over one month,” he said. “It’s kind of insane.”
Grace Yarrow contributed to this report.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is in the Capitol meeting with holdout GOP Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Bill Cassidy of Louisiania as he tries to lock down their support for his confirmation as permanent leader of the Justice Department.
Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) declined to respond directly Wednesday to Speaker Mike Johnson’s refusal to denounce his former son-in-law Rep. Max Miller over abuse accusations leveled by Moreno’s daughter: “These aren’t accusations in my world,” he said.
“In my world, this is the reality,” Moreno told reporters at the Capitol. “This is not something that is theoretical to me. This is my lived reality of my daughter and my family every single solitary day.”
In an interview with Dasha Burns for Blue Light News’s The Conversation, Johnson declined to take sides in the dispute between Miller (R-Ohio) and Emily Moreno. He called for a House Ethics probe to “play out.”
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