David Morgan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President-elect Donald Trump arrived in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday aiming to unite Republicans on a strategy to implement tax cuts, border controls and increased fossil fuel production, 12 days before he returns to the White House.
Trump entered the US Capitol for the first time since his supporters stormed the building on January 6, 2021 over his claims of a rigged 2020 election.
He paid his respects during a visit to former President Jimmy Carter’s casket in the Capitol Rotunda before Trump was scheduled to meet with Republicans who hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate. Trump will attend Carter’s (NYSE: ) funeral Thursday in Washington.
With slim majorities in the Senate and House, Republicans have yet to agree on whether to pursue one bill containing his priorities or two, and have differing views on what the bill should contain.
Some Senate Republicans have argued that they should split Trump’s agenda into two pieces of legislation, which would give them a quick win on border and energy policy before turning to the thornier issue of taxes. Some House Republicans warn that, given their narrow margin of control, the two-step approach risks failing to pass another bill extending Trump’s tax cuts.
“We’re looking at one bill versus two bills. Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter, we’re going to get a result,” he told reporters as he made his way through the Capitol.
It will also have to deal with how to neutralize 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 of Representatives last week when Speaker Mike Johnson initially failed to get the votes needed to be re-elected to his leadership post. After nearly two hours of negotiations, Trump’s call helped prompt two staunch Republican opponents to reverse their positions and back Johnson.
“None of this is happening without leadership from the White House. The margins are just too low,” Republican Sen. Thom Tillis told reporters. “President Trump is getting MVP status to handle the vote for president. And we’re going to need him to play the role of MVP in passing these laws. Just common sense.”
On Friday, the president-elect is scheduled to begin three days of meetings with House Republicans at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
“He needs to hear our impressions of how we’re going to get to where we all want to be,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, who hosted Wednesday’s meeting.
Republicans intend to pass Trump’s agenda using a complex legislative maneuver that would allow them to bypass Democratic opposition in the Senate. Republicans’ 53-47 majority in the Senate is too narrow to otherwise overcome the House’s 60-vote loyalty for most legislation.
The 219-seat majority in the House of Representatives is expected to fall to 217-215 after Trump takes office in less than two weeks. Two House Republicans are ready to leave Congress and join his administration.
‘HE MUST TELL US’
Trump himself has so far complicated matters by not offering clear guidance, saying he prefers one bill but can accept two. Trump said Tuesday he wants Congress to avoid defaulting on the $36 trillion U.S. debt by extending the federal borrowing limit.
“He has to tell us what he wants and what he needs,” said House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington. “It’s a call he has to make.”
Trump is expected to meet with members of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus on Friday. Lawmakers and aides said they will also meet with committee chairs on Saturday and with other House Republicans on Sunday.
U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, a member of the libertarian caucus and one of two Republican lawmakers Trump convinced last week to support Johnson, said he intended to ask Trump to use his power to support aggressive spending cuts that would help offset the higher federal tax ceiling. long.
U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, who will meet with Trump on Sunday, sees the debates as the starting gun for the president-elect’s second term on Capitol Hill.
“Trump has historically been the most engaged president in working with members of Congress,” Crenshaw said. “And so this is just the beginning.”
Some Republicans have warned that Trump could overreach if he takes too strong a role in legislative negotiations.
“We’re independent. I mean, we’re a co-equal branch of government. Sometimes we forget that the president doesn’t rule the Senate and the House. I think that was a mistake he learned the first time,” said U.S. Rep. Kevin Hern, who chairs the Republican Policy Committee in House of Representatives.
Hern said he would be among the lawmakers meeting with Trump on Sunday.
