By David Morgan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President-elect Donald Trump and U.S. Senate Republicans spent nearly two hours in a closed-door meeting on his upcoming agenda on Wednesday, but there appeared to be no clear path to setting out his plan to cut taxes, increase production of fossil fuels and fossil fuels. . deport millions of undocumented immigrants.
Trump, in his first visit to the US Capitol since his supporters attacked the building on January 6, 2021, held a wide-ranging debate that touched on his Cabinet nominees, the Panama Canal, oil drilling in Alaska and his legislative agenda. .
With only narrow majorities in the Senate and the House of Representatives, Republicans in the two chambers have clashed over whether to drop Trump's tax, border, power and military priorities in one piece of legislation or two.
Senate Republicans want to break Trump's agenda into two bills, allowing them to score quick wins on border and energy policy before turning to the tax issue. House Republicans are warning that their limited administration runs the risk of not being able to pass the second bill to increase Trump's 2017 tax rate, which expires at the end of the year.
“There's a lot of talk about two, and there's a lot of talk about one. But it doesn't matter. The end result is the same. We're going to do something,” Trump told reporters after the meeting.
The lack of clarity has encouraged some Senate Republicans to envision a “horse race” against the House.
“We all want to do it all. And if we can move forward on two bills, and it seems like that's going better, that's a horse race,” Senator John Hoeven told reporters.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters that the Senate is ready to move forward with its legislation but wants to give Republicans time to promote unity within their ranks at times.
“It's an ongoing conversation. I'll put it that way,” Thune said.
On Friday, the president-elect will begin three days of meetings with House Republicans at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Legislative Maneuver
Republicans will have to deal with how to offset the effects of the new tax cuts on the growing $36 trillion national debt.
In a possible sign of things to come, Trump had to intervene in the House last week when Speaker Mike Johnson initially fell short of the votes needed to be re-elected to his top post. After two hours of negotiations, a call from Trump helped move two Republican opponents to reverse their positions and support Johnson.
“President Trump gets the status of MVP to solve the vote of the speaker. And we will need him to play MVP in getting these laws. Just common sense,” Senator Thom Tillis told reporters before Wednesday's meeting.
Republicans are looking to pass Trump's agenda through a tough legislative process that will allow them to overcome Senate Democratic opposition. Republicans' 53-47 majority in the Senate is too narrow to overcome a 60-vote filibuster on most legislation.
In the House, the 219-seat majority is expected to drop to 217-215 after Trump takes office in less than two weeks. Two House Republicans are ready to leave Congress and join his administration.
Trump was expected to meet Friday with members of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus. Lawmakers and aides said they will meet with committee chairs on Saturday and other House Republicans on Sunday.
U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, a member of the Freedom Caucus and one of two Republicans who Trump persuaded to endorse Johnson last week, said he intends to ask Trump to use his powers to reverse the drastic spending cuts that will help pay for the debt ceiling. .
US representative Dan Crenshaw, who will meet with Trump on Sunday, sees the talks as the first shot in the second-term engagement of the president with Capitol Hill.
“Trump has a history of being the most engaged president with members of Congress,” Crenshaw said. “And this is just the beginning of it.”
Some Republicans have warned that Trump could be overplaying his hand if he takes a strong role in the legislative debate.
“We are independent. I mean, we are a co-equal branch of government. Sometimes we forget that the president does not control the Senate and the House. I think it is a mistake that he learned the first time,” said US Representative Kevin Hern, who is the chairman of the Republican Policy Committee in the House.
Hern said he will be among the lawmakers who will meet with Trump on Sunday.