{"id":9160,"date":"2025-01-08T09:57:45","date_gmt":"2025-01-08T01:57:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=9160"},"modified":"2025-01-08T09:57:49","modified_gmt":"2025-01-08T01:57:49","slug":"freedom-caucus-holds-its-fire-on-johnsons-strategy-for-passing-trump-agenda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=9160","title":{"rendered":"Freedom Caucus holds its fire on Johnson\u2019s strategy for passing Trump agenda"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus are holding their fire despite Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) bucking their preferred strategy for passing President-elect Trump\u2019s agenda, arguing that the ultimate product is more important than the configuration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Freedom Caucus\u2019s board of directors sent a letter to Johnson last month endorsing a two-bill strategy for reconciliation, the procedural maneuver that would allow Republicans to pass Trump\u2019s priorities without Democratic votes. They called for a border-focused package in January then a second, larger measure later on that includes tax and energy policy. The position aligned with that of Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), who has advocated for the two-bill track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weeks later, however, Johnson is barreling ahead with a single, sprawling reconciliation package, a position he staked out after Trump said he preferred \u201cone powerful bill.\u201d The president-elect has emphasized that posture a number of times since, while still keeping the door open to moving two bills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson\u2019s game plan runs counter to the wishes of the Freedom Caucus, which has a track record of being a thorn in the side of leadership and revolting against top lawmakers \u2014 at times grinding the House to a halt \u2014 when their preferences are not prioritized. This time around, however, the hard-line conservatives, who are set to meet with Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Friday, are keeping their powder dry, falling in line with the Speaker\u2019s play call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve only got so much time. What we\u2019re facing is President Trump\u2019s got 12, 13 months, that\u2019s it. It\u2019s just a matter of what we can get passed and get in,\u201d said Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), a Freedom Caucus member. \u201cAt the end of the day if they do one \u2014 I\u2019d prefer two \u2014 if they do one, and if it\u2019s substantive, I\u2019d be fine with that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rep. Ben Cline (R-Va.), another member of the conservative group, echoed that sentiment, citing Trump\u2019s stated preference for a single package.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden praises Trudeau: ‘I am proud to call him my friend’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s up to the president and his preference was one, and so the Speaker is taking his cue from the president and proceeding with one. Absent any direction by the president in another direction we\u2019re gonna continue on the path of one,\u201d Cline said. \u201cIndividual members are gonna have their individual positions, but I am OK with it at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rather than strategy, the hard-line Republicans have said their main concerns lie in how the bill is put together and what policy is included. Conservatives have been adamant that they want an open, member-driven process for crafting legislation that enacts Trump\u2019s agenda, demands they aired in the lead-up to last week\u2019s Speaker election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m OK with whatever gets the president\u2019s agenda accomplished. I think the key thing is the details in the overall proposal, what the construction looks like,\u201d said Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), a Freedom Caucus member and close Trump ally. \u201cThe end result is what matters, everything else is just preferences.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we get the agenda done that we have all campaigned on, everybody will be happy whether you\u2019re [House Freedom Caucus] or [Problem Solvers Caucus],\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Norman, who opposed Johnson for Speaker last week before changing his vote to support him, said \u201call of it\u2019s in the details, particularly with cuts, offsets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a letter to House Republicans last week, right after Johnson won the Speaker\u2019s gavel, members of the Freedom Caucus board of directors issued a series of demands for legislation in the 119th Congress, including spending cuts. The group of 11 hard-liners said they supported Johnson for the top job despite \u201creservations\u201d regarding his leadership track record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is always room to negotiate on so-called \u2018leadership\u2019 positions under the rules; in the meantime, each one of our election certificates is still equal,\u201d they wrote. \u201cPersonalities can be debated later, but right now there is zero room for error on the policies the American people demanded when they voted for President Trump \u2014 the ones necessary to save the country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe demand the House of Representatives deliver \u2014 quickly,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Republicans on Capitol Hill for weeks have been debating strategy for reconciliation, the budgetary process that allows parties with full control in Washington to bypass opposition from across the aisle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thune, the newly minted Senate majority leader, made his preference for two bills known in early December, as he looks to secure victories on the border early on before working through an extension of the 2017 Trump tax cuts, which will likely be a thornier undertaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.), the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, has been a public proponent of moving a single bill. Single-track advocates argued that it would be easier for one bill to move through the slim GOP majority since there would be more favored provisions outshining items some members may oppose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson on Tuesday reiterated that the House will move forward with one bill, siding with Smith rather than Thune and the Freedom Caucus members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe still remain convinced over here that the one-bill strategy is the best way to go,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWe will get the two chambers united on the same strategy and I think the president still prefers one big, beautiful bill, as he likes to say, and there\u2019s a lot of merit to that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump, meanwhile, has stated on a number of occasions that he prefers a single bill, but he is also leaving the prospect of two measures on the table. During a press conference on Tuesday, the president-elect said \u201cI like one big, beautiful bill, and I always have, I always will,\u201d before adding \u201cbut if two is more certain, it does go a little bit quicker because you can do the immigration stuff early.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Freedom Caucus members are scheduled to visit with Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Friday as part of a series of meetings the president-elect is conducting with a diverse array of House Republicans. One member of the group who is intending on joining the meeting told The Hill they want to hear from the president-elect \u201chow can we best help implement the Trump agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Johnson is pushing a single-measure track, some hard-liners believe their preference of a pair of bills will ultimately be the strategy utilized. Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), a Freedom Caucus member, predicted that Republican leaders will have trouble cramming all their priorities into a single bill and ultimately shift to the two-track approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs you start to prioritize what you want to get done and how quickly you want to get it done, a two-bill solution becomes more of a reality because the larger it is the more complicated it is in the time it\u2019s going to take,\u201d Ogles told The Hill. \u201cIt makes sense for them to move in a direction, but if you hit an obstacle and you have to adapt, they always have that opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus are holding their fire despite Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) bucking their preferred strategy for passing President-elect Trump\u2019s agenda, arguing that the ultimate product is more important than the configuration. 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