Trump's Trials - Republicans split on best path to advance Trump's agenda in Congress

Episode Date: February 12, 2025

House and Senate Republicans are charting competing courses to implement President Trump's top agenda items, including boosting funds for security along the U.S. southern border and extending tax cuts. The Senate budget committee is expected to begin marking up a budget resolution Wednesday that begins the process of reconciliation to provide $175 billion to secure the southern border and $150 billion in new military spending. Support NPR and hear every episode sponsor-free with NPR+. Sign up at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

I'm Scott Detro and you're listening to Trump's terms from NPR. We're going to be doing all sorts of things nobody ever thought was even possible. It's going to be a very aggressive first hundred days of the new Congress. An unpredictable, transformative next four years. The United States is going to take off like a rocket ship. Each episode we bring you NPR's coverage of President Trump acting on his own terms. And that means sometimes doing things that no American president has tried before. NPR is covering it all in stories

like the one you are about to hear right after this. There is a lot happening right now in the world of economics. You may have heard about the president's desire for a sovereign wealth fund. If your country's small, well-governed, and has a surplus, it is probably a good idea. We are not any of those. We're here to cover federal buyouts, the cost of deportation and so much more. Tune in to MPR's The Indicator from Planet

Money. At the Super Bowl halftime show, Kendrick Lamar indeed performed his smash diss track Not Like Us, and brought out Samuel L. Jackson, Serena Williams, and SZA. We're recapping the Super Bowl, including why we saw so many celebrities in commercials this year. Listen to the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast from NPR. May Martinez. Congressional Republicans want to boost security along the southern border and extend tax cuts passed in the first Trump administration. But even with united government, the devil is in the details. The House and Senate are moving forward with competing plans, all while a government

shutdown is quickly approaching next month without much clarity that both parties can come together on a deal. NPR congressional correspondent Barbara Sprunt is following all this. So Barbara, if lawmakers agree on what should happen from a policy perspective, why so much disagreement? Well, the Senate wants to start with one bill on the border, energy and defense, and then later do a second bill that's focused on taxes. And the reason why is that they're concerned that adding in the tax elements now would make it too complicated to pass quickly. Senate budget chairman Lindsey Graham spoke yesterday about the need for urgent action. After a closed-door briefing with OMB director Russ Vogt and Borders czar Tom Holman, Graham says they were begging for more funding and said that

immigrations and customs enforcement is running out of money. The Senate Budget Committee plans to mark up a budget resolution that would begin the process of a reconciliation bill that would provide $175 billion to the border. Here's Graham. It would be enough money for four years to implement President Trump's border agenda, immigration agenda on the security side. Now this plan is at odds with what House leadership wants, which is one single bill encompassing energy, the border, tax cuts, and Graham addressed his counterparts directly. To my friends in the House, we're moving because we have to. I wish you the best. I want one big, beautiful bill, but I cannot and I will not go back to South Carolina and justify not supporting the president's immigration plan.

So why does the House want to move forward with just one bill? What's that argument? Well, they're worried that if they delay the tax component and put it in a second bill down the road, it could be jeopardized altogether. House Republicans have a razor thin majority and it's hard enough frankly to satisfy all factions to get on board with one bill, let alone two. That said, the conference isn't yet fully aligned on all of the particulars here.

And the speaker's plan was already undermined earlier this week when the House Freedom Caucus released its own proposal, which was a two bill approach. Now, budget reconciliation, you mentioned that. What exactly does that mean? Well, reconciliation very simply is a way to pass some types of legislation with a simple majority and avoid the threat of a filibuster, which requires 60 senators to overcome Republicans have 53 seats in the Senate.

They're not going to get any democratic support, you know, to help get them over that 60 vote threshold. So what do they do? They turn to reconciliation and that will make it possible to enact get any Democratic support to help get them over that 60 vote threshold. So what do they do? They turn to reconciliation. And that will make it possible to enact legislation on taxes and spending with just a simple majority. This is the same way that Democrats passed big parts of former President Biden's agenda. It is a complicated process.

There are limits to what they can do. It's mainly about money, not major policy. And the first step is a budget resolution, which directs different committees to adjust spending or deficits. The committees all write their own bills, and then the budget committee puts them all together into one big bill that can't be filibustered. Not the last we're going to hear about this, I'm sure. That's NPR's Barbara Sprung. Barbara, thanks. Thank you. Before we wrap up, a reminder, you can find more coverage of the incoming Trump administration

on the NPR Politics Podcast, where you can hear NPR's political reporters break down the day's biggest political news with new episodes every weekday afternoon. And thanks, as always, to our NPR Plus supporters who hear every episode of the show without sponsor messages. You can learn more at plus.npr.org. I'm Scott Detro. Thanks for listening to Trump's terms from NPR. NPR covers the stories that shape our world.

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