Speaker Mike Johnson has a new challenge as he works on the specifics of President Donald Trump’s agenda: navigating the competing assurances he made to various GOP factions.
Johnson has to placate tax writers who want a costly and permanent extension of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts; hard-liners who want steeper spending reductions if the tax provisions expand; and swing-district Republicans who don’t want to see cuts to safety-net programs. That’s to say nothing of Trump and his billionaire ally, Elon Musk, or Republicans in the Senate.
The House’s fiscal hawks are already pushing Johnson to oppose the Senate GOP’s attempts to pull back some of the spending cuts House Republicans approved. “The House has spoken,” Rep. Chip Roy said. “And I think we need to defend that position.”
But other House Republicans are counting on the Senate to soften the potential blowback of cuts to Medicaid and other safety-net programs. Remember, the House and Senate have to pass the same plan in order for Congress to pass a reconciliation bill to enact Trump’s domestic agenda.
That’s not Johnson’s only major challenge right now. He also has to stop the government from shutting down in less than two weeks. The speaker said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday that he wants to keep the Department of Government Efficiency’s cuts out of the spending patch that GOP leaders are now pushing to keep the government funded through September. He’ll instead look to incorporate them in funding legislation for the next fiscal year.
Johnson temporarily backing away from codifying DOGE cuts should ratchet down the chances of a shutdown on March 14, though Democrats were still noncommittal on Sunday. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said the party is “committed to funding the government” — including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. A clean stopgap, also known as a continuing resolution or CR, would likely continue current funding levels for all three of those programs.
Republicans will almost certainly need Democrats on this, even in the House. GOP Rep. Tony Gonzales, who voted against December’s stopgap bill, said Sunday he’ll again be a “NO on the CR.” More hard-liners are likely to join him.
What else we’re watching:
- Reversing Biden-era regs: The House Rules Committee will have a hearing at 4 p.m. Monday on measures to overturn three Biden-era energy regulations: one that required energy conservation for appliances, another that mandated emissions standards for tire manufacturing and a third that limited offshore drilling. The panel is planning meetings on every fly-in day going forward, with a focus on repealing more regulations under the Congressional Review Act.
- Senate considers transgender bill: Senate Majority Leader John Thune will see if he can get Democrats to cross party lines and support an initial procedural vote on a bill from Sen. Tommy Tuberville that would ban transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports. It’s not likely to pass — it would need seven Democrats to clear the Senate.
- Democrats on offense: Democrats are planning to bring fired federal workers as their guests to the president’s joint address to Congress on Tuesday, such as Sen. Ruben Gallego, who plans to bring an Army veteran recently fired from DHS. Expect more to come: House Democrats’ messaging arm is encouraging members to bring guests who’ve been “harmed” by the funding freezes and firings.”
Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.
