WASHINGTON — House Republicans are laying the groundwork to fast-track a number of agenda items before the midterm elections, including a number of policies that didn’t make it in President Donald Trump’s signature tax package last summer.
The Republican Study Committee, the main conservative caucus in the House GOP conference, unveiled the framework on Tuesday aimed toward cutting federal spending while implementing a number of Republican policies through a party-line vote. A timeline on the framework is not yet clear, but Republicans are pushing to get something enacted before the November elections when control of Congress is up for grabs.
Republican leadership was tempering expectations Tuesday, but RSC Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas, said he hopes to get started on the process as early as this week. Any final package will need the blessing of Trump, who has previously suggested a second reconciliation isn’t necessary.
“Republicans are spending the next three years starting now, making the American dream affordable again, and it would be political malpractice if we did not pursue a reconciliation 2.0 plan,” Pfluger told reporters on Tuesday. “There’s no reason to stop our progress right now. We have momentum on our side, and there’s more work to be done.”
The framework would focus on six major tenets such as reducing energy costs, lowering health care premiums, making housing more affordable, and codifying several of Trump’s executive orders, among other things. The proposal has not been finalized but is meant to kickstart talks among Republicans to begin crafting the reconciliation bill.
Will Republican leaders back bill?
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., endorsed the idea of pursuing a second reconciliation bill last week, and Republican leaders discussed the possibility during a closed-door meeting last week.
Johnson has not yet specifically backed the RSC framework, but Pfluger said he hopes the proposal is a “starting point” to build momentum.
“I hope that (leadership) takes note of this plan and will continue to use this as a framework,” he said. “There’s no pride and ownership of this particular plan. The details that are in it, we believe that it’s good. We think it meets the moment, and we’re ready at the table.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., appeared to tamp down expectations about the likelihood of a second reconciliation bill on Tuesday, telling reporters “there is no consensus yet” and they are working through every members’ proposals.
“I’d sure love to do one, but obviously, with a now one-seat majority, basically it means we’ve all got to come together and agree on what that framework would look like,” Scalise said.
Although the framework has not been finalized, RSC members say it would contain mostly legislation that has already been introduced or passed through the House. Early estimates predict about $1.6 trillion in spending cuts for an overall $1 trillion in deficit reduction.
But questions remain on how quickly the framework can get through Congress — or whether there’s enough Republican support to squeeze a bill through. Republicans will have little room to work with in both the House and Senate, meaning they can afford virtually no defections.
Timing will also be a challenge as it took six months for Republicans to get Trump’s first tax package to his desk, and Republicans will want to get it through quickly to give party members something to campaign on ahead of the midterm elections.
But a second bill is crucial to meet the moment, RSC members say. Pfluger specifically pointed to how Democrats managed to get two reconciliation bills passed in the first two years of the Biden administration, suggesting it would be “political malpractice” not to attempt that themselves.
Republicans use AI to test reconciliation rule
And this time around, Republicans are learning from their mistakes last year. Several of Republicans’ policies were stripped from the bill last summer by the Senate parliamentarian after she ruled they violated the strict rules of reconciliation, otherwise known as the Byrd Rule. That rule prevents any non-budgetary proposal from being included in a reconciliation package, which is exempt from the filibuster and only requires a simple majority to pass.
That Byrd Rule is what allows Republicans to fast-track a package without Democratic support — but it includes stringent qualifications that several health care policies didn’t adhere to last summer.
The RSC said it has since developed an AI tool “trained on thousands of Byrd Rule documents” to help generate compliant legislation that can withstand Democratic challenges. That tool, they argue, will help them avoid having policies stripped out like what happened previously.