Johnson Wants Budget Reconciliation Bill On Trump's Desk By End Of April

Newly reelected House Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday highlighted his and President-elect Donald Trump's plans to pass one "big, beautiful" budget reconciliation package through Congress and said he aims to have it on Trump's desk by the end of April.

"Everything's got to move in the right sequence. And along the way, I think we're going to keep those trains moving in the right direction and on time," Johnson said on "Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo." "And if that happens, we will get it out of the House in early April, maybe as soon as April 3, and then move it over to the Senate."

In the worst-case scenario, he said, Trump would have a bill ready to sign by Memorial Day.

Johnson told Bartiromo his aim is for the bill to also address the debt ceiling. But that doesn't mean Republicans plan to spend up to the new number.

Johnson unveiled his and Trump's plans to House Republicans in a retreat Saturday. A single reconciliation package, combining Trump's priorities on immigration and border enforcement and also on tax reform and energy, is no small task for a House GOP currently working with a 219-215 majority. Top Republicans including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and incoming White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller had advocated a two-bill strategy, with the GOP first passing a border and energy permitting bill before moving on to tax reform.

GOP leaders haven't yet hammered out a plan for the debt ceiling before June, but they have been considering addressing it in the massive reconciliation package, POLITICO reported Saturday. Such a move will be a major political undertaking with the approaching June debt deadline.

Reconciliation can be used with spending bills; most importantly, it allows the Senate to pass a bill with a simple majority, avoiding the possibility of a filibuster in a body that is now divided 53-47. At issue, at times, though is which things in a particular bill qualify as budget items and which do not.

Thune, speaking Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation," said reconciliation wouldn't cover all issues — "There are a number of issues where we're going to have to get 60 votes" — but noted Democrats had used the tactic to pass legislation during the Biden years.

Still, Johnson was optimistic about the single-bill strategy.

"There's a lot of merit to that," he said. "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."

Republican senators on Sunday were quick to offer support to Trump and Johnson's single-bill plan, including Senate HELP chair Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and newly sworn-in Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.).

"There's very narrow margins," Cassidy told guest host Jacqui Heinrich on "Fox News Sunday." "And so we've got to get it right. I suppose that after they've looked at the votes they have in the House, they figure that is the best way to get it though. I'm not going to dispute Mike Johnson. I think he's doing a great job."

Banks said Johnson's reelection to the speakership proved the fragmented House Republican caucus can unite on major orders of business like reconciliation.

"To me that's a positive sign that House Republicans are unified behind Donald Trump, the Trump agenda," he told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union."

"They're hearing from our supporters at home. We have to get this done, secure the border, make our military focused on winning and fighting wars and strong again, make the tax cuts on working families permanent."