The House’s legislative sprint to pass President Donald Trump’s agenda by Memorial Day enters a new phase Monday, with Republicans gearing up for the first week of committee markups on the sweeping tax, border and energy bill.
It’s an ambitious timeline for Speaker Mike Johnson and there are doubts within the conference it’s even feasible. House Republicans did make progress on some items like tricky tax issues over the two-week recess, but they’re still far from agreement on key hangups, like the amount of spending cuts and any changes to safety-net programs.
A new clash is incoming between House Republicans and the White House, which is now cautioning against slashing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program amid mounting concerns that slashing this benefit could hit the president’s voters. That goes against House conservatives, who want to overhaul a program they believe is filled with overpayment issues.
Some committees are privately trying to work out some of the thorniest issues before bringing their pieces of the megabill up for markups. Financial Services Republicans are meeting privately tonight to discuss their portion of the bill, according to a person granted anonymity to speak freely. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will also reconvene his “Big Six” meetings with Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Congress’ tax chiefs on the GOP tax component of the package.
It’s all fair game for conversation when Johnson and Trump meet at the White House Monday. Meanwhile, here are the other big policy debates that will be on full display across as many as seven committee markups in the coming days:
— Transportation and Infrastructure is expected to meet and propose a $150 annual fee for all electric vehicles to help meet its $10 billion savings goal.
— Education and Workforce is expected to target Biden-era student loans while looking for $330 billion in spending cuts.
— Armed Services and Homeland Security won’t have the spending cut problem: They both have increases to their budgets as Republicans want to strengthen the military and beef up immigration enforcement at the border as part of their final package. But that could still spark some intraparty fights, with defense hawks and fiscal conservatives at odds over a proposed $150 billion increase for the Pentagon.
— Oversight and Government Reform is looking to force federal workers to pay more into their retirement accounts to help reach the committee’s $50 billion deficit reduction target.
— Financial Services is proposing slashing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s funds by almost 60 percent as one way to reach its $1 billion savings goal.
— Judiciary could meet this week to determine how to allocate $110 billion, which could involve establishing new policies to crack down on legal immigration.
What else we’re watching:
— Thune could defy parliamentarian: Senate Majority Leader John Thune could flout the chamber’s parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, by allowing a floor vote on a resolution to undo certain Biden-era “waivers” allowing California to set stricter car emissions standards, which critics say amounts to an EV mandate. MacDonough recently ruled that this allowance doesn’t constitute a formal rule, so it would not be subject to reversal by lawmakers under a wonky procedural tactic known as the Congressional Review Act. But Sen. Kevin Cramer said in an interview he believes Thune is considering setting up floor consideration of a CRA resolution to undo the waivers, anyway.
— Rescissions decisions: Trump’s $9.3 billion rescissions request is expected to land on Capitol Hill this week. That will start a 45-day countdown (minus recess) for both chambers to pass a package codifying clawbacks of funding to the State Department, USAID, NPR and PBS. If Congress doesn’t clear legislation making these spending cuts in that timeframe, the president is then legally required to disburse the money.
— Revenge porn bill: The House will vote Monday on legislation that would crack down on non-consensual intimate photos and videos, including AI-generated deepfakes. The bill, spearheaded by Senate Commerce Committee chair Ted Cruz and backed by first lady Melania Trump, sailed through the House Energy and Commerce Committee in a 49-1 vote earlier this month.
Jordain Carney, Hailey Fuchs, Jasper Goodman, Benjamin Guggenheim, Meredith Lee Hill, Chris Marquette, Connor O’Brien, Oriana Pawlyk, Jennifer Scholtes and Mackenzie Wilkes contributed to this report.
