DORAL, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump is expected to rally House Republicans Monday at their annual policy retreat as they look to make progress on tax cuts, border security and other conservative priorities.
House Republicans are holding their annual policy retreat at Trump National Doral Miami, a posh resort with four golf courses and a ballroom named after the president. They are trying to find consensus on a spending bill before a March 14 deadline and secondly on a budget blueprint that would set the stage for passing a filibuster-proof tax, energy and border security bill later this year.
It's a daunting task, with Speaker Mike Johnson setting the first week of February for the House Budget Committee to pass a budget blueprint that is key to the whole process.
“That will be where the lion's share of these campaign promises we made are fulfilled,” Johnson said. “And that's what all the hard work here is, in the room with all of us negotiating and coming to consensus.”
Political capital is almost always at its peak at the start of a new presidential term, even more so because this is Trump’s second and he is prevented under the Constitution from a third. Moving swiftly is all the more important because the GOP majorities are slim, particularly in the House.
Johnson is trying to lump many of the GOP priorities into one massive catch-all bill that Senate Democrats cannot filibuster, but many Republican senators think it would be better to do two bills — the first focused on border security and defense, and the second on extending and expanding upon the tax cuts passed in Trump's first term.
Republicans are eyeing potential changes to key safety net programs, such as work requirements for those participating in Medicaid, to help offset the cost of enacting their priorities.
House Republicans said they expect more specifics to be announced after the retreat on where they are headed.
Until then, they were highlighting Trump's first week in office, particularly reveling in the showdown that Trump had with Columbia this past weekend over accepting flights of deported migrants from the U.S.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that Columbia agreed to all of Trump's terms, "including the unrestricted acceptance of all illegal aliens from Colombia returned from the United States, including on U.S. military aircraft, without limitation or delay.”
“Think about it, President Trump, I don't even think had finished the front nine before he successfully forced the Columbian president to take back their illegal immigrants,” said Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich. “The days of America being walked all over are long gone thanks to President Trump.”
On the budget fight to come, Democrats are already casting it as one that would primarily benefit the wealthy at the expense of others, with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries labeling the Republican plan a “contract against America.”
"It will hurt working families, hurt the middle class, hurt our children, hurt our seniors and hurt our veterans," Jeffries said.
Republicans are warning that if Congress does not act quickly to extend tax relief, capital will remain on the sidelines and families next year would see child tax credits and a guaranteed tax deduction greatly reduced, upping their federal tax bill.
Trump and Republican leaders are also going to have to find a way to extend the nation's debt limit. The limit must be raised by Congress, and failure to do so risks the federal government defaulting on its debt and unable to pay all its bills.
Under President Joe Biden, Republican lawmakers sought concessions on spending before agreeing to suspending the debt ceiling, but it's unclear how adamant they will be on deficit reduction during a Trump presidency.
