WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump finally weighed in on the biggest debate on Capitol Hill, throwing his support behind House Republicans’ budget reconciliation package over the Senate’s proposal to split the bill into two.
Trump offered his long-awaited opinion in a Truth Social post on Wednesday morning, just one day after the Senate passed its first procedural hurdle to vote on its two-part budget reconciliation bill later this week. The president praised both chambers for “working together as one unified, and unbeatable, TEAM” but expressed his desire to advance his full agenda in one fell swoop.
“The House Resolution implements my FULL America First Agenda, EVERYTHING, not just parts of it!” Trump wrote. “We need both Chambers to pass the House Budget to ‘kickstart’ the Reconciliation process, and move all of our priorities to the concept of, ‘ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL.’ It will, without question, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Lawmakers have been pushing Trump for months to weigh in on which strategy he would prefer, with Senate GOP leaders pushing for a two-bill track while those in the House have advocated for just one massive package.
Republicans plan to use reconciliation process. Here’s what that means
Through the budget reconciliation process, Republicans can circumvent Democratic opposition and prevent a filibuster to expedite the passage of certain legislation and go around the minority party by enacting key pieces of their agenda with a simple majority vote.
There are certain rules that dictate how often reconciliation can be used, and the procedure can only be utilized to advance budget-related legislation such as taxes, spending, and the debt limit.
Once a budget reconciliation blueprint is finalized, it only requires a simple majority in the House and Senate to pass.
The House’s ‘one big beautiful bill’
The House has been working for months to finalize the details of their bill, seeking to compile all of Trump’s priorities on border, energy, defense, and taxes. But while that process dragged on in the lower chamber, Republicans in the Senate grew impatient — and instead proposed a two-track approach to get easy policy items such as border and energy out of the way first while they continue to hammer out details on tax cuts.
The Senate is expected to still move forward with voting on its border and energy reconciliation bill this week.
But House Republicans are taking an early victory lap as they tout Trump’s decision to back their approach.
“(Trump) is right! House Republicans are working to deliver President Trump’s FULL agenda — not just a small part of it,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said in a post on X. “Let’s get it done, House GOP!”
It’s a debate that has plagued Republican lawmakers for months. Senate Republicans and some hardliners in the House, including those in the conservative House Freedom Caucus, have pushed for a two-bill strategy, arguing the party should secure quick wins for Trump and provide much-needed money to the southern border.
But others in the House have argued they should advance all policies in one package, warning that 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 Republicans finalized their own budget blueprint last week that would approve $4.5 trillion to extend those tax cuts while tasking committees to find $2 trillion in spending cuts.
But even with Trump’s endorsement, it may still be easier said than done as the House package still faces some hurdles before it can be brought to the floor for a vote. Because of Republicans’ slim majority, Johnson can only afford to lose one GOP lawmaker’s support — giving him virtually no room for error.
Making things more complicated, Trump came out on Tuesday to vow not to slash any spending on Medicaid, which will make it far more difficult for House Republicans to find trillions of dollars to cut.
The House is expected to vote on their package as early as next week.