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GOP leaders still giving conflicting guidance on reconciliation plans

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Congressional Republicans are still waiting on more guidance from Donald Trump on their complex legislative priorities, as the incoming president is set to meet with senators on Wednesday.

On the House side: Speaker Mike Johnson pressed his disparate House Republican conference in a closed-door meeting Wednesday morning to stay united, as the party has struggled to get on the same page regarding how to pass GOP priorities including the border, energy and tax cuts.

In the meeting, Johnson didn’t delve into the details of his one-track reconciliation strategy, according to four Republicans in the room who were granted anonymity to discuss the private meeting. Johnson is still trying to hammer out those plans with Senate Majority Leader John Thune — who is pushing for two separate packages.

“We still remain convinced over here that the one-bill strategy is the best way to go. But there are some senators who have a different view,” Johnson told reporters Tuesday morning.

On Trump, Johnson added: “I think the president still prefers one big beautiful bill.”

Johnson’s urging for unity Tuesday morning comes as some House GOP hardliners are planning to raise the benefits of a two-track process in meetings with Trump at Mar-a-Lago later this week, according to two Republicans familiar with the matter who were granted anonymity to candidly discuss it. Some conservatives are wary of one massive legislative package, and are privately raising concerns about quickly tackling the border as a top priority.

House GOP leaders also warned their conference Tuesday morning that the budget reconciliation process — which is new to a wide swath of younger members — is a major undertaking and will require an aggressive House schedule.

On the Senate side: Thune has resisted emphasizing his prior preference for a two-track plan that would separate taxes, allowing lawmakers to pass priorities on the border sooner. But he’s not embracing the one-track plan either, saying he wants to hear from Trump.

“It would be good to get his assessment and kind of the lay of the land and what his priorities are early on,” Thune said in a brief interview.

The two Republican leaders aren’t outright fighting, saying they just need to work out a strategy but are united on the underlying policies. But the one- vs. two-bill plan is critical to passing any GOP priorities, and how quickly Johnson and Thune can come to a decision will have major ramifications for the outlook for Trump’s sweeping agenda. A massive bill means it could collapse under its own weight, given the vast ideological differences within the party, but going with two pieces of legislation could risk failing to pass anything on taxes at all.

Other issues: No matter how many bills Republicans pursue, House hardliners are demanding “transparency” around the process — suspicious of leaders who have a tendency of working out major pieces of legislation in private meetings.

Some House Republicans, including senior members, are expressing private concerns that Trump may “embolden” Freedom Caucus rebels by holding court with them at Mar-a-Lago this Friday night.

A wide array of Republicans are also leery of Trump holding so many one-on-one meetings this weekend with several key House GOP factions — who are all pushing their own strategies and agendas — given Trump’s tendency to agree with people he’s spoken with most recently. That could cause more problems for the ongoing strategy disagreements between House and Senate Republicans over the way forward, as precious legislative days tick by.

“There is a pattern there, isn’t there?” said one House GOP lawmaker.

Jordain Carney contributed to this report.

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Congress

Markwayne Mullin’s DHS nomination not at risk from Rand Paul, Thune says

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he is confident Sen. Markwayne Mullin will be confirmed as the next secretary of Homeland Security despite a contentious exchange with fellow GOP Sen. Rand Paul at a hearing Wednesday.

Paul, the chair of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, sharply questioned the Oklahoma senator about past remarks that he “understood” why Paul suffered a heinous assault from a neighbor in 2017. Mullin refused to apologize for the remark.

“Those two obviously have some history, and it’s, you know, personal stuff,” Thune said. “They’ve got to work through it. I mean, in the end, this is about the job, and it’s about making sure that we got the right person there. I think Markwayne is the right person for the job.”

Asked if he was still confident Mullin can be confirmed, Thune said, “Yeah.”

Paul has scheduled a committee vote on Mullin for Thursday. While Paul’s vote is in serious doubt, Mullin could win over Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who has expressed support for Mullin previously and said Wednesday he would approach the nomination “with an open mind.”

“I haven’t been rocked by some mic-dropping kind of moments,” Fetterman told reporters after the hearing.

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Mullin says he regrets calling Alex Pretti ‘deranged’

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Sen. Markwayne Mullin said he regretted calling Alex Pretti “deranged” but stopped short of offering a direct apology to Pretti’s family.

“I shouldn’t have said that,” the Oklahoma Republican said during his confirmation hearing Wednesday to serve as the next Homeland Security secretary. He was referring to his past comments regarding the U.S. citizen killed by federal immigration enforcement agents in Minnesota back in January, who some conservatives in the immediate aftermath labeled a “domestic terrorist.”

It was a stronger concession than Mullin gave just moments earlier, when he refused to apologize for calling Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), the chair of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, a “snake.” Still, when pressed by the committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, Mullin would not commit to apologizing to Pretti’s family until the conclusion of an investigation into the incident.

“If I’m proven wrong, then I will,” Mullin said.

Regarding Renee Good, another U.S. citizen killed by immigration enforcement officers in Minnesota earlier this year, Mullin refused to retract comments he made at the time of Good’s death, specifically that agents were justified in killing her. He told BLN in January that agents “had the right to defend themselves.”

He said he would wait for the findings of the investigation into Good’s killing to comment further; Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) countered that the Trump administration is currently blocking state and local inquiries.

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Mullin markup still on

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A committee vote on Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s confirmation as Homeland Security secretary remains on track for Thursday despite a fiery sparring session Wednesday between the Oklahoma Republican and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, the chair of the panel that must approve his nomination.

A spokesperson for Paul said after the tense exchange — during which Mullin refused to apologize for comments saying he “understood” why Paul was violently assaulted in 2017 — that the committee vote “is on for tomorrow.”

As chair of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Paul has wide latitude to schedule action on Mullin’s nomination.

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