Letters from Capitol Hill that Members of Congress have written and signed on to lately.
Frenetic Energy From Capitol Hill
Following instructions from the Big Blonde Man moving into the Surprisingly Small White House on a plan to exploit congressional procedure to push a mega package of policy and budget priorities, word from the Lower Chamber is that relevant committees could begin voting as early as next month on an ambitious budget resolution.
Aimed at pumping the start of Trump 2.0, adoption of budget resolutions in the House and Senate will kick off consideration of a package of spending cuts, border and energy policy, and extending the 2017 tax law are all reportedly set to be part of a prospective measure.
If the bill is able to move in the way the incoming President and Republican leadership have envisioned, introduction of these measures can initiate the reconciliation process, a procedural maneuver that eliminates the threat of a filibuster that could stall the legislative package in the Senate.
House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-TX), one of the authorities involved in the reconciliation process by his Chair status, said, “Our goal is to [move through the reconciliation process] very quickly…potentially as early as the last week in February.”
Reconciliation is a procedural option in Congress’ arsenal ranging from lethal to nuclear that, in theory, minimizes procedural requirements of usual order in the House and Senate.
Originating as a means of equalizing spending levels with intended policy effects and first used under the Carter administration in the 80s, it is perhaps fitting Congress and Trump are flirting with this option to pass legacy policy today, as the former President lies in state in the Capitol Rotunda as part of his days-long funeral procession.
You can read more about this controversial procedural chit here.
Potential hurdles of time, razor-thin party lines, caucus factions consensus, and plans of overcoming objections from points of order incurred against non-germane provisions aside, congressional leaders are putting the proverbial cart before the horse - already moving to considerations of text and whether they’d like to order one bill or two.
Under the umbrella of the budget to-dos and woes, House and Senate negotiators still have not reached an agreement on high-level spending figures for defense and nondefense funds for fiscal 2025.
Dragging this out would delay a necessary first step toward a full funding deal before March 14, when government funding expires and a shutdown once again becomes a looming possibility.
Republican leaders are reportedly discussing these top-line spending levels, known as 302(a) numbers, but, according to House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-OK) there does not appear to be any reciprocated bipartisan offers at this time.
Once leaders agree to a bipartisan, bicameral set of 302(a) numbers specifying defense and nondefense spending levels, they will need to break them down into allocations for each of the 12 appropriations bills.
When the 12 subcommittee leaders have their allocations, they can hammer out the specific details of the respective bills.
On Jan. 5, Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said they prefer one bill, but some Senate Republicans and fiscal hawks want a slower timeline, possibly splitting the baby to focus first on border and energy measures, and then taxes and spending later in the year.
According to Cole, House and Senate Republicans discussed packaging the 12 appropriations bills into three bunches. This would avoid a 12-bill boondoggle — a legislative package often referred to as a bus and more often derided by conservatives for its deviation from prescribed regular fiscal order. .
While there likely will not be a specific plan until lawmakers get deeper into negotiations, House Majority Steve Scalise (R-LA) told reporters today that a full House vote would come “by April, by Easter.”
Johnson is reportedly continuing to meet with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) today about the possibilities.
Facilitating a forum for further conversation, Senate GOP Policy Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) is reportedly set to host Trump at a meeting with Senate Republicans.
Several groups of House Republicans are also said to be scheduled to make the trek down to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, as well.
While Mar-a-Lago lobster may prove to be a tasty, effective lobbying tool to satiate Members’ appetites for bucking Party orders, in the House, Johnson will need to navigate a bare-bones majority technically at 220-215. This is set to temporarily fall to 217-215, when several Members of Congress will depart to work in the White House.
Long story short - Catholic priests may be the only ones with reconciliation successes this year, as Johnson cannot afford to lose a single vote on a party-line bill.
A tie is a defeat.
Follow Proxenos for more perspectives on Capitol Hill and the new Congress.
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Jan. 08 | Floor Schedules
The House plans no votes today while former President Jimmy Carter lies in state in the Capitol Rotunda.
The Senate is back at 11 a.m. Leaders haven’t scheduled any votes for today.
Senate Republicans are set to meet with Trump today and hope to get more on his thinking on moving reconciliation legislation.
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Jan. 07 | Letters to the Leadership
Congressman Keith Self, along with Congressman Josh Brecheen and Congressman Eli Crane, sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Thune and House Speaker Johnson urging Republican leadership to prioritize legislation that includes spending reductions as government funding is considered for Fiscal Year 2026.
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Jan. 07 | Sen. Cotton, Targeted Cops, Ignored Criminals
Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland condemning the Department of Justice for its recent push to impose federal consent decrees on multiple police stations across the country: “This gross overreach undermines public safety and our police.”
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Jan. 07 | Senate Budget Committee Report
Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), in their respective capacities as Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee during the 118th Congress, released a bipartisan staff report on the findings of their investigation into the ways in which private equity investment in health care has negative consequences for patients and providers.
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Jan. 06 | Continued Congressional Questions on New Orleans
House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-TN) sent a letter to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, demanding an updated briefing on Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the suspect in the deadly New Year’s Day terrorist attack in New Orleans. Representative August Pfluger (R-TX), chairman of the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence in the 118th Congress, cosigned the letter.
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Jan. 05 | Latta Questions for DOE
Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, along with Congressman Bob Latta (OH-05), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy, penned a letter to Secretary Jennifer Granholm questioning the Department of Energy’s involvement in the Biden-Harris Administration’s decision to prevent new offshore oil and gas production, leading to higher prices for consumers and harming U.S. energy security.
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Jan. 02 | ‘Wasteful’ Words to Trump
Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., wrote in a letter to President-elect Donald Trump, which he shared via X, that he has “strong concerns with foreign aid being funneled to the Taliban.”
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