Speaker Mike Johnson just threw something out there that I think will get a bit of a mixed reaction among the GOP caucus.
Johnson announced that he has been having meetings with Donald Trump and the members of the caucus regarding Trump’s agenda and how they are going to address it.
According to Johnson, they are going to present a massive omnibus bill by the spring to push everything through, using reconciliation.
But You Said…
So, first and foremost, reconciliation is what the GOP has been going bonkers about throughout the Biden administration.
Secondly, one of the key points from the Freedom Caucus was that omnibus spending packages would no longer be passed, yet here we have both of those in play.
Johnson confirmed all this, stating, “We’re 15 days out from the inauguration of President Donald J. Trump for his second term. And we want to make sure that we’re jump-starting the agenda now over the next two weeks, so that he’s prepared and ready on day one.
“We have a lot to do, as you know. And we have been putting all the plays together and figuring out the sequence of how we’re going to run those plays. And we’re really excited about it.
“At the end of the day, President Trump is going to prefer, as he likes to say, one big, beautiful bill.
“And there’s a lot of merit to that, because we can put it all together, one big up-or-down vote, which can save the country, quite literally, because there are so many elements to it.
“And it’ll give us a little bit more time to negotiate that and get it right.”
But what about all those Republicans who ran on cutting spending and not passing omnibus legislation?
With a bill like this, they are not likely to have all of the spending funded, which means the national debt goes up, something else they all promised to lower.
Even if it gets through the House, they only have two votes to spare in the Senate, and I would be willing to wager that at least one Senator, Rand Paul, will not go for such a bill, especially if it adds to the national debt.
Personally, I just have a problem with politicians raising hell over something then turning around and doing it when they get in power, but that is the way Congress works these days.
And you know Democrats, who used reconciliation multiple times with Biden, will cry to the high heavens that the GOP is using it for Trump.
Rinse, wash, repeat… it’s the same old DC regardless of who is in the White House and holding the gavel.
