Senate Republicans are staring down a major fight to overhaul the House’s budget resolution as lawmakers eye big changes.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), with the help of President Trump’s muscle, was able to get the House’s plan to enact Trump’s sweeping legislative agenda past a key hurdle on Tuesday.
But even as Senate Republicans say they’re relieved the House was able to advance the measure, they’re also crying foul that it wouldn’t make the 2017 Trump tax cuts permanent and fretting about the deep cuts to Medicaid that would be required to finance the House’s plan.
Now, the effort to advance Trump’s priorities enters a new stage with both sides attempting something they’ve been unable to do since late last year: get on the same page.
“It’s complicated. It’s hard. Nothing about this is going to be easy,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.). “There are some things that we need to work with the House package to expand upon.”
Republicans are aiming to pass large swaths of Trump’s agenda using a process called budget reconciliation, which bypasses the Senate filibuster. A budget resolution unlocks that process and serves sets parameters lawmakers must follow when they craft a final bill.