Trump rallies Republican senators to mend divide
By: Riley Beggin
USA Today
WASHINGTON - With Republican leaders split over the best path forward to enact President-elect Donald Trump;s agenda, he net with GOP senators Wednesday [01/08/2025] night.
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Trump appeared to support a single-bill strategy preferred by House Republicans, according to Senate Republicans leaving the meeting in the U.S. Capitol, but was open to doing it in two separate packages if that stalls - which remains GOP senators' preferred method.
..... "We're looking at the one bill versus two bills, and whatever it is doesn't matter, we're going to get the result and we're going to make America great again," Trump said to reporters before the meeting as he walked past the senate chamber to the rotunda, where he said his respects to the late President Jimmy Carter lying in state.
..... House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, and senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, escorted Trump, who arrived at the capitol with his wife Melamia Trump and incoming White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.
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Trump also discussed his proposal to annex Greenland, touted tariffs to pay for his priories, and walked through the immigration-related executive orders he plans to sign on his first day in office, senators said.
..... "You heard him say in his press conference that he's going to shut the border down - he has the ability through immediate actions of executive orders and other things," said Senator Shelley Moore Capito R-West Virgina. "He's concerned about the safety of the country and what he sees going on with illegal immigration, so I think that carries a great urgency for him."
..... Congressional Republicans say they want to pass Trump's top policy priorities quickly, but they disagree on the best way to do it.
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House Republicans want all their big priories - border security, energy and tax policy - rolled onto one massive bill. Senate Republicans would prefer to break tit down into two big bills, one tackling border and energy first and another on tax policy.
..... Trump request for Senate Republicans: "That we all be on the same page, and that it's time to get things done. So work together and actually accomplish something,: said Senator Katie Britt, R-Alabama.
..... GOP senators argue taxes are going to spark a fight in Congress and take some time, so that's why they want to mover first on immigration and the nation's energy industry. House Republicans, dealing with one of the smallest margins in modern history, fear two bills would be extremely difficult to get through their chamber.
..... Republicans are set to lead the House 220-215, so just a handful of GOP rebels could derail even must-pass legislation.
..... What Thune, Johnson and other top GOP lawmakers decide may determine how much Trump's agenda can be accomplished in his first 100 days in office.
..... Trump
is meeting with several groups of congressional Republicans this week [01/08/2025] in an attempt to get lawmakers on the same page about the most effective route. Senate Republicans Wednesday, [01/08/2025] followed by House Republican s visiting Mar-a-Lago.