WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� President-elect likes the idea of 鈥渙ne, big beautiful bill" for his top legislative priorities, but he emerged from a lengthy closed-door meeting with Republican senators late Wednesday open to other strategies as GOP leaders strain to develop a plan before in Washington.
Trump said it 鈥渇eels great鈥� to be back inside the U.S. Capitol for the first time since he left office four years ago, after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot by his supporters. With his wife, Melania, he also paid tribute to the late President Jimmy Carter in the Rotunda ahead of funeral services Thursday.
With Trump taking the oath of office on Jan. 20, Republicans have no time to waste.
鈥淲e're looking at the one bill versus two bills, and whatever it is, it doesn't matter," Trump said about the conflicting strategies as he arrived. "We鈥檙e going to get the result.鈥�
More than 90 minutes later, after bantering with GOP senators on a wide range of topics, Trump exited with the same message: 鈥淥ne bill, two bills, doesn't matter.鈥�
Trump鈥檚 return to Capitol Hill marked a changed era in Washington as he strode through the corridors where four years ago a mob of his supporters had laid siege to the U.S. Capitol as senators fled to safety in a failed attempt to salvage Trump鈥檚 election defeat to President Joe Biden.
Inside the private meeting, Trump received applause and bursts of laughter from the Republican senators, staying late into the evening to confer with him behind closed doors. He took questions as the conversation roamed 鈥� from his designs on Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal to the and even the North Dakota Bison game, senators said.
At stake are tax cuts, border security, money to and efforts to boost 鈥� priorities for Republicans coming to the White House, House and Senate.
He first met privately with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and is also expected to huddle over the weekend with House GOP lawmakers at his private club Mar-a-Lago.
Thune said afterward the Republican senators and Trump want the same results. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an ongoing conversation,鈥� he said.
Political capital is almost always at its peak at the start of a new presidential term, even more so because this is Trump鈥檚 second and he is prevented under the Constitution from a third. Moving swiftly is all the more important because the GOP majorities are slim, particularly in the House, where House Speaker Mike Johnson can鈥檛 afford to lose hardly any votes.
Johnson, who greeted Trump at the Capitol, has said he sees himself operating as with Trump as their coach calling plays. But Republicans are quickly finding themselves in a dilemma: What happens when the coach changes his mind?
Trump has given Republicans on Capitol Hill mixed signals, flip-flopping over what is the best approach. Over the weekend, he said he wanted 鈥渙ne big, beautiful bill.鈥� By Monday, he had reopened the door to two.
House Republicans want a single package. Senate GOP leaders are proposing at least two.
At one point during the meeting, Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D. said he suggested, "Well, Mr. President, you love a horse race and then whatever works best is great.鈥欌��
Hoeven said, 鈥淗e prefers one big, beautiful bill but hey you know he wants to get all this done.鈥�
Budget reconciliation carries high risk, but potentially high reward
Republicans are relying on perhaps the most complicated legislative tool at their disposal, the budget reconciliation process, as the vehicle to advance Trump鈥檚 priorities.
It's a strategy with high risk, but also potentially high reward.
Reconciliation allows Congress to pass bills on a majority basis, without the threat of a in the Senate that could delay or kill action. But it is also a difficult, strict and time-consuming process that can fall apart at any moment.
Democrats used the same tool during the Obama era to approve the in without any Republican support. Republicans used it during Trump鈥檚 first term to pass the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act without Democrats.
Using reconciliation is a herculean task. Doing it twice could prove doubly difficult.
Democrats are trying to stand their ground
House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar of California said what's at stake is that Trump and the Republicans are proposing a tax giveaway to the wealthy and budget cuts that will cut social services and other programs that Americans rely on.
Republicans are 鈥渉uddling behind closed doors鈥� focused on 鈥渉ow they provide tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires and how they cut programs that hurt people,鈥� he said.
Thune has said one could be approved within the first 30 days of the new administration with provisions for border security and mass deportations, energy development and military funds. The tax cuts would come later, in a second package.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, a member of GOP leadership who invited the president-elect to meet with senators, said she could go with one or two bills.
鈥淏ut I still think the two-bill strategy is better simply because I think we can get a victory in early, which will show the American people and the president we mean business,鈥� she said.
Trump plans meetings at Mar-a-Lago with House Republicans
Johnson, R-La., revived his football metaphor Tuesday.
鈥淲e have very well-designed plays," he said. "Now we are working out the sequence of those plays, working with a new head coach, in that metaphor, President Trump.鈥�
Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., among those House Republicans headed to Florida for this weekend's meetings, said he supports the House鈥檚 one-bill approach.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e not going to get everything that you want,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o how do we put something together that everybody can get something?鈥�
Once back in Florida on Thursday, Trump is hosting Republican governors for dinner at Mar-a-Lago.
Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo is one of the governors headed to South Florida, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the details were not public. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox is also expected to attend the dinner, according to a schedule released by the governor鈥檚 office earlier this week.
During his first term, Trump was known for changing his mind, a habit that members of Congress became accustomed to as they navigated his presidency.
Trump ally Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., said Trump just 鈥渨ants all of it done.鈥�
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Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick, Farnoush Amiri, Matt Brown and Adriana Gomez Licon in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, contributed to this report.
Lisa Mascaro And Kevin Freking, The Associated Press
