President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday threw his support behind a comprehensive bill covering border, energy, and tax issues.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said, “Members of Congress have begun work on a strong bill that will bring our country back and make it bigger than ever. We must secure our border, free American energy, and renew the Trump tax cuts,” Trump wrote.
“Be smart, be tough, and send the bill to my desk for me to sign as soon as possible,” he added, arguing that Republicans must unite and quickly realize “these historic victories for the American people.”
Trump’s direct endorsement of a single major legislation strategy came a day after House Speaker Mike Johnson told members in a closed-door meeting that the president-elect favors a single-bill approach using compromise rather than two bills.
Republicans divided on single legislation
Republican Jason Smith, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, was among those pushing for a single package, while the two-bill strategy was supported by Senate Majority Leader John Thune, some of Trump’s allies on Capitol Hill, and the new White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.
In an interview on the Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo program, Johnson said he wants to adopt a budget resolution in February with instructions for a comprehensive energy, border, and tax package.
Johnson then aims to pass the bill through Congress in early April and put it on Trump’s desk by the end of the month.
The one-bill strategy still raises some skepticism among Republicans. Johnson admitted on Sunday that the bill could therefore be delayed until May.
Republicans from ‘farm states’ fear tariffs
On Truth Social, Trump also revisited another issue that has drawn the ire of some Republicans in Congress: the use of tariffs to help defray the costs of the tax package.
Trump’s mention of tariffs has raised concerns, particularly in the Senate, where Republicans elected in so-called “farm states” worry that the agricultural sector will be the target of foreign retaliation.
Key Senate Republicans have also said they do not believe tariffs are a spending-stabilizing option.
