{"id":7693,"date":"2025-03-26T12:04:08","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T12:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/capitol-agenda-one-major-agreement-on-trumps-agenda\/"},"modified":"2025-03-26T12:04:08","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T12:04:08","slug":"capitol-agenda-one-major-agreement-on-trumps-agenda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/capitol-agenda-one-major-agreement-on-trumps-agenda\/","title":{"rendered":"Capitol agenda: One major agreement on Trump\u2019s agenda"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune indicated there was at least one point of agreement from their White House meeting Tuesday: Adding a debt ceiling hike to their party-line tax, border and energy bill.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a gamble some Senate Republicans fear could sink the whole package<\/u><\/a>. And while President Donald Trump told GOP lawmakers that was his preference earlier this month, he\u2019ll now have to convince several skeptical Republicans to get behind the idea.<\/p>\n

Johnson called it \u201ceverybody\u2019s preferred outcome at this point.\u201d Thune said it was \u201cclearly a preferable outcome,\u201d though he acknowledged he still needs to \u201cdetermine whether or not the Senate can get on board with that idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, plenty of sticking points remain<\/u><\/a> as both chambers hope to work out a deal on a reconciliation bill framework they hope to adopt by the week of April 7.<\/p>\n

House Republicans are digging in on the spending cuts their budget blueprint would prescribe for the reconciliation process, with Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie defending the $880 billion in cuts his committee<\/u><\/a> has been tasked with finding as \u201crealistic.\u201d But Republican senators have aired doubts on that point, fearful of major reductions to Medicaid benefits. Many of them want to adjust the level of savings the committee would be tasked with finding to spare slashes to the popular safety net program.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to vote for something that would lead to Medicaid cuts,\u201d said Sen. Josh Hawley.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not a position all Senate Republicans share, however. Some conservatives want even deeper spending cuts. Thune is hoping to appease<\/u><\/a> those lawmakers by pointing out all the federal funding reductions already undertaken by Elon Musk\u2019s Department of Government Efficiency.<\/p>\n

Senate Republicans also want to make the expiring 2017 tax cuts permanent \u2014 something that wasn\u2019t included in the House GOP blueprint. And Republican senators are making clear they intend to tweak the House-passed budget resolution on that point.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey said they needed time to do one big, beautiful bill,\u201d Senate Budget Chair Lindsey Graham told reporters, referring to House Republicans. \u201cThey had a chance; the product is woefully inadequate.\u201d<\/p>\n

What else we\u2019re watching<\/b>:<\/p>\n