BURSTSenate Republicans are racing to consider a compromise budget resolution as they look to advance President Trump’s legislative agenda, with a vote potentially taking place this week.
House and Senate Republicans each adopted their own budget blueprints last month, with the lower chamber moving forward with “one big, beautiful bill,” as Trump refers to it, and the upper chamber utilizing a two-track strategy. Top Republicans have been working to reconcile the two visions ever since.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) signaled that his ranks could consider the compromise measure this week, which would require a vote-a-rama. One large wild card, however, is when — and how — the Senate parliamentarian rules on whether Republicans can use the current policy baseline, the budgetary gimmick that leaders are hoping to utilize to make the 2017 Trump tax cuts permanent.
Also this week, the House is scheduled to consider a bill that would restrict the power of district court judges to issue injunctions after Trump, Elon Musk and GOP lawmakers sounded the alarm over a move by a judge that prevented the administration from deporting Venezuelan migrants.
The House may also vote on a resolution that seeks to allow parental proxy voting, after Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) successfully executed a discharge petition to force action on the measure despite Speaker Mike Johson’s (R-La.) strong opposition. Additionally, the House Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, led by Luna, is slated to hold a hearing on the files related to the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy.
Senate GOP eyes vote on compromise budget blueprint
The Senate could vote on an emerging compromise budget resolution as soon as this week — a timeline Thune has indicated is possible — though a number of key questions remain as the chamber looks to move forward on an agreed-upon framework.
The biggest unknown is whether Republicans can utilize the current policy baseline in the reconciliation process, which would allow the party to permanently extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts without adding to the deficit.
The Senate parliamentarian must rule on whether or not the gimmick is permissible before the upper chamber votes on the compromise budget resolution.
Regardless of the outcome, the parliamentarian's ruling will be significant. If she allows the current policy baseline to be used, Republican leaders in both chambers will have to convince some fiscal hawks to back the effort despite their skepticism. If she rules that it cannot be used, however, GOP leaders will be forced back to square one in determining how to make the tax cuts permanent.
Aside from the uncertainty surrounding the current policy baseline, Republicans must also grapple with how much spending cuts they include in the compromise budget resolution. The House GOP’s blueprint called for at least $1.5 trillion in cuts with a target of $2 trillion. Those levels direct the Energy and Commerce Committee to find at least $880 billion in cuts, which many believe will require slashes to Medicaid — a detail that is prompting concern among Republicans in both chambers.
In one bright spot for the party, however, the conferences appear to be on board with including a debt limit increase in the reconciliation bill. House GOP lawmakers included a $4 trillion debt ceiling hike in their budget resolution, but some Senate Republicans balked at that idea.
Emerging from a meeting with Johnson, Thune, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett and top tax writers last week, the chambers appeared united on that front.
“I think there’s consensus forming there,” Thune said of the debt limit question.
House GOP looks to limit injunctions from district judges
The House this week is slated to vote on legislation that would limit the power of district court judges across the country to issue injunctions, a response to calls from Trump and other Republicans to impeach judges that have blocked the administration’s actions.
The House Rules Committee is scheduled to consider the No Rogue Rulings Act, led by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), during its hearing on Monday at 4 p.m. EDT. If it advances, full debate in the chamber and a vote are expected on the floor later in the week.
The legislation seeks to restrict the ability of district court judges — of which there are 677 — to issue injunctions that impact individuals beyond the parties directly involved in the case, which would essentially disallow nationwide injunctions.
The effort comes after Judge James Boasberg issued a ruling that prevented the Trump administration from using the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan migrants. Trump, Musk and other GOP lawmakers have called for Boasberg to be impeached, but that push is unlikely to advance through the House or move in the Senate amid opposition from some Republicans and Democrats.
In a floor outlook on Sunday, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said the legislation under consideration “prevents partisan judges from abusing their authority and issuing politically motivated nationwide injunctions that inhibit the President from carrying out the policy agenda the American people elected him to implement by blocking federal judges from issuing injunctions that extend beyond specific parties involved in a case.”
Luna eyes movement on paternal proxy voting push
The fight over whether new parents should be allowed to vote by proxy could hit a fever pitch this week, as Luna eyes action on her resolution to allow for such conditions — despite the strong objections from Johnson and his leadership team.
Luna would not reveal when she would move on her resolution but hinted that it could take place this week, telling reporters: “You guys will have a good news cycle next week.”
The Florida Republican successfully spearheaded a discharge petition to force a vote on Rep. Brittany Pettersen’s (D-Colo.) resolution, which would allow members who give birth or lawmakers whose spouses give birth to select another member to vote for them for 12 weeks. A total of 218 lawmakers supported the effort — including 11 other GOP lawmakers — enough to dispatch the legislation to the floor.
Johnson has argued that proxy voting is unconstitutional and has raised concerns that Pettersen’s resolution could prompt the extension of the practice. As a result, he is searching for ways to stop the resolution from coming to the floor, and potentially being adopted.
One idea being floated is language to “turn off” the privilege that would force leadership to consider the proxy voting legislation, which would involve likely adding it to an unrelated procedural resolution. If that avenue is used, Luna and her allies would have to remain united and defeat the procedural hurdle, either by voting it down or working to force it another way.
In the meantime, the heat surrounding the debate is rising. On Friday, Luna wrote on X that she will “probably no longer going to be a member of the freedom caucus” following the proxy voting debacle.
House task force to hold hearing on JFK files
The House’s Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets is scheduled to hold a hearing on the JFK assassination files at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, two weeks after the National Archives released more documents related to Kennedy’s death.
Three witnesses are slated to testify: Oliver Stone, an American filmmaker; Jefferson Morley, an independent journalist and author; and James DiEugenio, a researcher and author.
Trump has made declassifying documents related to the 1963 assassination a priority in his second term. Three days after being sworn in, Trump signed an executive order directing the release of federal government documents related to JFK’s assassination, in addition to those of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.
Earlier this month, the National Archives released thousands of files related to JFK’s assassination.
In a statement on Sunday, Luna, the chair of the task force, said this week’s hearing is the “first step” in its goal of tracking down more information related to JFK’s assassination.
“After six decades of deception and secrecy surrounding the assassination of President Kennedy, the Trump Administration is lifting the veil and giving the American people the truth,” Luna said. “By investigating the newly released JFK files, consulting experts, and tracking down surviving staff of various investigative committees, our task force will get to the bottom of this mystery and share our findings with the American people.”
“Our hearing is the first step and we look forward to hearing from our witnesses,” she added.