Congress returns from recess ready to move on Trump's agenda

Lawmakers look rising choler from constituents

Washington lawmakers look rising choler from constituents 02:34

Washington — Congress returns Monday from a two-week recess with Republicans eyeing an ambitious docket to determination connected the centerpiece authorities of President Trump's first-year agenda.  

After some the House and Senate adopted a fund resolution that serves arsenic a blueprint earlier this month, legislature committees are acceptable to statesman enactment this week connected the monolithic program cardinal to implementing Mr. Trump's priorities connected borderline security, defense, vigor and taxes. The authorities aims to widen the 2017 taxation cuts, on with authorizing further taxation cuts, portion raising the indebtedness ceiling by arsenic overmuch arsenic $5 trillion. And GOP leaders person circled an ambitious extremity to walk Mr. Trump's "one big, beautiful" measure by Memorial Day.

"What you'll spot implicit the adjacent 4 weeks is the pieces, the assorted components of that large measure rolling retired of committees," House Speaker Mike Johnson said connected Fox News past week, adding that Republicans are "pushing it precise aggressively connected the schedule" to conscionable the Memorial Day deadline. 

With instructions connected however overmuch to trim oregon summation spending by, committees are opening the mark-ups this week, facing a May 9 deadline to implicit their enactment drafting authorities reconciling spending with the caller fund goals, earlier the chambers tin determination guardant connected the broader package.

The committee enactment marks the adjacent measurement successful the budget reconciliation process, which allows Congress to bypass the 60-vote threshold typically required to beforehand a measure successful the Senate and grants the enactment successful powerfulness the quality to o.k. large authorities without moving crossed the aisle. But uncovering the cuts, and getting the indispensable Republican support, volition beryllium a dense lift.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, left, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, during a quality league astatine the U.S. Capitol successful Washington, DC, US, connected Thursday, April 10, 2025. Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Meanwhile, legislature Democrats spent the recess rallying their ranks against the cardinal GOP fund program and forthcoming legislation, aft months of handwringing implicit however to respond to the Trump medication and Republican majorities successful Congress. 

On Sunday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Sen. Cory Booker took to the Capitol steps for much than 12 hours for a sit-in protest against the Republican fund plan, informing of a infinitesimal of "moral urgency" erstwhile Congress returns. They were joined passim the time by a slew of House and Senate Democrats anxious to reason the forthcoming GOP legislation.

"As we hole to travel backmost into league tomorrow, this is simply a clip to choose. And we're either going to take the broadside of the American people, oregon we're going to take this cruel fund that Republicans are trying to jam down the throats of the American people," Jeffries said. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer outlined successful a beloved colleagues missive Sunday that soon Republicans are expected to instrumentality the adjacent steps connected their fund plan, claiming they mean to "cut taxes for billionaires portion slashing Medicaid into oblivion." The New York Democrat urged that Democrats "must hammer distant astatine the Republican docket astatine each opportunity."

Democrats person sounded the alarm implicit possible cuts to Medicaid successful the GOP plan, with the House Energy and Commerce Committee that oversees Medicaid instructed to find the biggest spending cuts — astatine slightest $880 cardinal implicit the adjacent decade. And the Congressional Budget Office backed up the concerns successful an analysis released past month, which recovered that the fund goals outlined successful the House GOP program could not beryllium reached without reducing spending connected the fashionable program, which provides government-sponsored wellness attraction for low-income Americans. 

House Republican enactment has insisted that they volition support peoples' benefits, alternatively moving to basal retired "fraud, discarded and abuse" wrong the program. But the quality implicit Medicaid has enactment immoderate mean Republicans successful an awkward position, portion sparking GOP disagreement implicit the scope of reshaping the program.

Republicans are besides moving to reconcile different lingering disagreements that could stall the process, similar part implicit the extent of spending cuts, aft the House and Senate adopted a solution that sets debased minimum floors successful the Senate, astatine conscionable $4 billion, portion House committees indispensable chopped astatine slightest $1.5 trillion successful spending. Senate Majority Leader John Thune assured skeptical House Republicans that the precocious enclosure is committed to uncovering much cuts earlier this period arsenic they prepared to determination connected the fund resolution, but the chasm remains. 

As legislature Republicans determination forward, the timetable has appeared to gaffe successful caller days, with an archetypal extremity to person the full bundle passed by some chambers and to the president's table by Memorial Day that whitethorn go solely a deadline to get the authorities done the House. But the existent deadline unit could travel with the Treasury Department's estimation of the "X-date," which marks erstwhile the authorities could tally retired of borrowing powerfulness and look an unprecedented default without enactment from Congress to code the indebtedness limit.