This story is part of WTOP’s ongoing series, Trump Impact, which looks at how the new administration could change the D.C. region.
Donald Trump will be sworn in as president at his inauguration on Jan. 20, and with GOP control of the House and Senate, Republicans are eager to begin a sprint toward enacting his legislative agenda.
“There’s a real feeling on Capitol Hill right now, in the midst of all the snow and winter drama — as well as across the country — it really does feel like a new day in America,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said recently, as Republicans laid out their plans.
Republicans are feeling optimistic, in light of the fact that they will soon have the “political trifecta” — control of the White House, as well as the two chambers of Congress.
President-elect Trump and Republicans have spoken frequently about having a political mandate in the wake of his election.
They have pledged to slash the bureaucracy, potentially eliminating thousands of federal government jobs, with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
“Our intention and our mission is to reduce the size and scope of government,” Johnson said. “To reduce spending in a meaningful way, so that we can restore fiscal sanity and get our country back on the right track.”
But to do that, Congressional Republicans and Trump need to make sure they agree on a track to approve his legislative priorities. Those include immigration reform and extending the tax cuts adopted during his first term, which expire at the end of this year.
A “big beautiful bill” — or two?
Republicans have been conducting extensive discussions over how they intend to push Trump’s priorities through the 119th Congress.
They agree that budget reconciliation is the best means to do that. The complicated process lets the Senate approve spending plans by a simple majority, allowing a party to avoid getting hit with a familiar roadblock: The 60-vote filibuster.
But House and Senate Republicans have different views over whether their plans should all be jammed into what Trump has called “one big, beautiful bill,” or two pieces of legislation.
House GOP lawmakers favor one bill that combines immigration matters and tax cuts. Senate leaders tend to support a two-bill approach, in the belief that it would be easier to pass immigration first and deal with the tax cuts later.
But House members have concerns that with a narrow majority, if they fail to get a major bill approved early in Trump’s latest term, they could have more problems down the road.
Republicans only have a 219-215 majority, meaning only two GOP lawmakers could derail approval of legislation.
The fragile majority was on display when Rep. Thomas Massie, R-KY, declined to vote to reelect Johnson as speaker and Trump had to call two other GOP holdouts from the golf course to make sure Johnson was returned to the speakership.
House Republican lawmakers met with Trump over the weekend at Mar-a-Lago, including members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus.
Members of the Freedom Caucus have, in the past, held up Republican-backed legislation, often due to fiscal concerns, forcing Johnson to rely on Democrats to get short-term spending bills passed.
Another government shutdown deadline ahead
As Trump and Republicans try to sort out their legislative strategy, they will have to deal with the thorny issue of extending the debt limit.
Trump tried unsuccessfully to get House Republicans to include it in the continuing resolution taken up in December; but more than three dozen GOP lawmakers rebelled and voted against it.
A stopgap measure was ultimately approved, extending spending through March 14. That deadline to avoid a government shutdown will come less than two months after Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
Trump has pledged to sign dozens of executive orders soon after he is sworn in, including one to force federal workers to return to the office. He has said if they fail to do so, he’ll seek to have them dismissed.
But that has led federal unions to gear up for potential legal fights, arguing that many federal workers have a right to work from home under their collective bargaining agreements.
Democratic lawmakers from Virginia and Maryland, who have large numbers of federal employees in their districts, have vowed to help protect their jobs.
No matter how all these issues unfold, 2025 is already off to a fast start on Capitol Hill.
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