Congress

GOP leaders still giving conflicting guidance on reconciliation plans

Published

2 years ago

January 7, 2025

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.

Congress

Trump needles Cornyn as Blanche remains blocked

Published

2 hours ago

July 31, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

President Donald Trump goaded John Cornyn on social media Friday morning, accusing the Texas senator of withholding his vote on Todd Blanche’s attorney general nomination in retaliation for Trump’s central role in his political demise.

Cornyn, who lost his May primary to Texas’ scandal-ridden attorney general, the Trump-endorsed Ken Paxton, has threatened to block Blanche’s nomination in the Senate Judiciary Committee until the White House promises to permanently shelve its $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” in writing — something Trump appears unwilling to do.

“John Cornyn never had a problem with the so called “Fund,” which will not benefit me, but rather the great American Patriots who were hunted down like dogs and whose lives were unfairly and illegally destroyed by the Crooked Joe Biden Administration, until after I decided to Endorse and Support his Republican Primary opponent in Texas, who easily won the Nomination for the United States Senate,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Several Republicans bristled at the fund, which could have been deployed to compensate Americans who faced charges after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and which gives the president and his family audit immunity over taxes. At his July confirmation hearing, Blanche said that the fund, part of a settlement the president reached with the IRS, was defunct. But the administration has been “reluctant to change” the text of the settlement, Cornyn told reporters Thursday.

Trump signaled his continued support for the Jan 6 rioters on Friday.

“I will always feel that these victims of government abuse should be paid back for what they were forced to endure, their lives have been ruined!” he wrote. “Millions of people agree with me, as was proven in my landslide Presidential win, where this was a major subject of debate, and so did John Cornyn, until he lost his Election to an opponent that I Endorsed.”

On Thursday, the president suggested that he could punt a Senate vote on Blanche until after Cornyn — and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) — leaves the chamber at the end of the year. Cornyn, however, suggested on social media that there are other Republican senators with concerns about the fund.

“After the midterms, who knows who’s going to be the next United States senator from North Carolina or Texas?” Cornyn told reporters.

Congress

Capitol agenda: The Senate’s fly-out agenda takes shape

Published

3 hours ago

July 31, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senate Republicans are prepping a jam-packed — if somewhat optimistic — agenda for their final week before summer recess.

Majority Leader John Thune wants to move stopgap funding through Dec. 11, bipartisan Russia sanctions legislation and a bloc of nominees — perhaps including attorney general pick Todd Blanche.

He’s also under pressure from President Donald Trump, administration officials and many of his GOP colleagues to adopt a budget resolution — the first step in unlocking another party-line spending bill.

Leaders are prioritizing the stopgap, though. Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) expects continuing resolution text to be unveiled later today, she told reporters Thursday, and an initial vote is expected Monday evening.

Still TBD: Collins wants to use the funding patch to block the Trump administration from putting political appointees in charge of approving grants — a demand Democratic senators are also making.

The decision is in Thune’s hands. He acknowledged a “handful of issues” are still under consideration with the CR, and said he’s “hoping both sides can come together and figure” them out.

As for the sanctions bill, leaders of both parties are still trying to work out a deal to fast-track the legislation amid concerns from some Democrats and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) that it gives Trump too much tariff power.

In addition to the nominees package, Thune also hasn’t ruled out an initial vote on the landmark cryptocurrency bill both parties have spent months negotiating or teeing up a bipartisan college sports overhaul now in final stages of talks.

But the big question is whether Republicans can take a major step toward another reconciliation bill by advancing a budget resolution.

Thune met Thursday with Budget Chair Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who said he was “optimistic in terms of how things are kind of coming together.”

Republicans anticipate giving a number of Senate committees instructions for the bill, setting up a lengthy and politically painful process ahead of adoption despite pushes for urgency from the White House.

Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, was the latest official to head to Capitol Hill to try and light a fire under top Republicans. But GOP senators don’t necessarily see the urgency.

“The hard part is the president wants to be able to move fast, like an executive can move, and we’re a legislative branch,” said Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.). “It doesn’t move that fast.”

What else we’re watching:

— BLANCHE TEETERING: Todd Blanche’s nomination as attorney general isn’t dead yet. But it’s certainly on life support. The acting AG met with Cornyn and Tillis Thursday at NRSC headquarters, and one person familiar with the discussion said the group was “working collaboratively now.” But it would now be difficult to confirm him before August recess under Senate rules.

— FARM BILL TEXT: Senate Agriculture Chair John Boozman said his farm bill legislative text — originally expected Thursday — could come Friday or Saturday. The bill, which is expected to include language allowing year-round E15 sales and a potential compromise on postponing GOP-led cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, is set to be marked up Thursday.

Jordain Carney and Grace Yarrow contributed to this report.

Congress

Former MLB star Mark Teixeira to hit campaign trail with GOP leaders

Published

7 hours ago

July 31, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

House GOP leaders are planning to bring former MLB star Mark Teixeira, one of their top candidate recruits this cycle, out on the trail in battleground districts over the summer recess sprint.

Majority Leader Steve Scalise will host a fundraiser with Teixeira in New York City on Aug. 20 with Speaker Mike Johnson as a special guest, according to three people with direct knowledge of the event, granted anonymity to discuss plans that have not yet been made public.

It’s part of a New York swing where Teixeira and Johnson will also hit nearby stops in GOP Rep. Mike Lawler’s 17th Congressional District and for Mike LiPetri, who is trying to unseat Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi in New York’s 3rd Congressional District.

Teixeira is running to replace GOP Rep. Chip Roy in Texas’ 21st Congressional District. He won a World Series title with the Yankees in 2009 and also played for the Texas Rangers, Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Angels before retiring from professional baseball in 2016 after 14 seasons.

Because Teixeira has little chance of losing in the deep-red seat, Republican leaders are hoping to harness his star power to boost their candidates in the most competitive races. They’re planning for Teixeira to help campaign in a wider swath of battleground districts in August and through November, including likely stops in Pennsylvania and Georgia.