WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans will move forward with their own plan on budget reconciliation next week, splitting GOP priorities into two bills in an effort to fast-track President Donald Trump’s agenda.
The Senate will begin marking up a budget blueprint as early as next week to craft a reconciliation package focused specifically on the southern border and national defense, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., announced on Wednesday. In doing so, senators will attempt to bypass the House, whose plans for one single reconciliation package have been plagued with GOP infighting and internal disagreements over spending cuts.
“We appreciate what the House is trying to do, but I think it’s very important that we get to (border czar) Tom Homan the money he needs to complete the plan President Trump promised,” Graham told reporters on Wednesday.
The spending package would specifically allocate funds toward hiring more ICE agents, investing in technology to secure the border, increase bed space and continue border wall construction. It’s not yet clear what a topline number would be, but Graham said it would include around $150 billion toward border funding.
“We will instruct committees, authorizing committees, to go find pay-fors that are reconciliation compliant, so that this thing is basically paid for,” the South Carolina Republican said. “And I hope to start it as early as next week.”
After that, lawmakers can get to work on the larger tax policy package, which has been delayed in the House due to internal disagreements over spending cuts.
Senate Republicans want to address tax cuts after immigration
The House Budget Committee was initially expected to draft budget instructions earlier this week, which would lay out the top-line spending numbers for individual committees to begin crafting their portions of the spending package. However, that meeting was postponed after hardline conservatives balked at GOP leadership’s proposals, arguing cuts were not steep enough to address the national deficit.
Party leaders outlined their reconciliation package proposal last week, which included more than $300 billion in spending cuts, a lawmaker familiar with the talks said, but would have included roughly $325 billion in new spending for border security and other defense costs.
A number of hard-liners relented on that proposal, prompting GOP leaders back to the drawing board. They then returned with a proposal of $700 billion in spending cuts, but that still failed to convince some of those in the right flank who want at least $2 trillion in cuts.
Senate Republicans expressed frustration with the lack of progress in the lower chamber, prompting senators such as Graham to move forward with their own blueprint — claiming it’s far too complicated to move forward with just one package.
“I understand the desire for one big, beautiful bill, but that just wasn’t going to happen,” Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., told reporters on Wednesday. “It’s too complex.”
But some Republicans in the House have warned against splitting the process into two, arguing the policies implemented in Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would expire if they are not included in the first go-around. Portions of those cuts are scheduled to lapse at the end of 2025.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., brushed off the Senate’s proposal, telling reporters he would speak with Graham to move forward with the original plan for one massive spending bill.
“He has to understand the reality of the House. It’s a very different chamber with very different dynamics,” Johnson said. “The House needs to lead this if we’re going to have success.”
It’s not yet clear how quickly the Senate can move on their budget blueprint, but Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., indicated last week that “text was ready” to unlock the process.