Mike Johnson, who was just re-elected as speaker, has touted the Republican Party's ambitious agenda for the new year, vowing to target the “deep state” through legislative action.
Mr. Johnson, 52, R-Louisiana, has announced plans to put a huge package of reforms on taxes, energy, borders and more into a huge package for a vote in April.
“There's a lot of pieces that go into it. We made a lot of promises on the campaign trail,” Johnson teased on Fox News' “Sunday Morning Futures.”
“And we're going to dismantle the deep state in the process.”
Johnson met for nearly nine hours Saturday with his House Republican colleagues in Fort McNair, Maryland, to devise a strategy for passing President-elect Donald Trump's agenda in the new Congress.
The general plan extends President Trump's 2017 tax cuts, with key provisions set to expire later this year, and implements campaign promises such as eliminating taxes on tips and Social Security, while increasing deduction limits for state and local taxes. It's something to do.
The package would also include legislation inspired by previous bills drafted by Republicans to strengthen border security and expand energy production.
Republicans will aim to fight it in the Senate through a process known as budget reconciliation to avoid the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome a filibuster.
Republicans also plan to pass separate smaller bills aimed at tackling border issues, which Johnson described as a “low-hanging fruit” before taking up the larger bill.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.C.) had urged Republicans to split the bill into two bills: one addressing energy and border issues and one addressing taxes. But President Trump has since supported a single-bill approach.
“Nobody's going to love all the elements of a big package like that,” Johnson explained. “But there will be enough pieces there to pull everyone along.”
House Republicans ousted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) during the last Congress, which was notoriously chaotic as they navigated deep divisions over key budget battles.
Mr Johnson faced headwinds as he sought re-election as chairman. Three House Republicans initially voted against Johnson in Friday's speaker race, but two later reversed course after Trump called and pressured him to reverse. gave the necessary votes.
Mr. Johnson now faces the difficult task of assembling a difficult caucus around Mr. Trump's policies and hopes to deliver Mr. Trump a landmark victory in Congress in his first 100 days in office. There is.
He also has one of the smallest House vote margins in U.S. history, and is likely to briefly slip to a one-seat majority early this year.
A packed timeline
The newly re-elected speaker has made it clear he hopes to get the monster bill to President Trump's desk in April.
“We're aiming for a vote in the House of Commons, probably in the first week of April,” Johnson said, citing April 3 as a specific target date and calling Memorial Day a “worst-case scenario.” He said it was the deadline. “Then move it to the Senate.”
But before Republicans get there, they will have to fight a new battle against a government shutdown. The latest such agreement, passed by Congress last month, is due to expire on March 14th.
Republicans were bitterly contested last time, but only got across the finish line with stopgap spending thanks to support from Democrats.
Congress also needs to address the debt ceiling.
Under the last agreement, the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, debt limits were suspended until January 1. Because of the complexities of government spending, Congress is not expected to need to raise limits on the nation's borrowing authority again until June.
President Trump has advocated for the complete removal of the debt ceiling, and while hardcore Republicans in the House of Representatives are against it, Democrats have shown a positive attitude toward this idea.
Prime Minister Johnson has said he wants to integrate legislation to address the debt ceiling into President Trump's broader agenda.
“I think we need to do that in that bill,” the Speaker explained.[so] There would be no need to negotiate with Chuck Schumer or the Democrats. ”
“We're going to have a very thoughtful discussion and discussion about where that limit should be,” he added. “We're a team that wants to cut spending, and we're going to do that. And we're going to do it dramatically – all of the wasteful government spending.”
After addressing these issues, Congress has until September 30 to pass a government funding package for fiscal year 2026 or pass short-term stopgap measures to avoid another government shutdown. .
“Remember, we did this in the first Trump administration. Tax cuts and regulatory cuts led to the largest economy in the history of the world before COVID-19,” he said. .
“That's the basic formula. But the sooner you do it, the better.”
