BURSTHouse and Senate conservatives in a letter to their leaders Wednesday backed a two-step budget reconciliation process to enact President-elect Trump’s agenda that would begin with a border bill, leaving tax legislation for later.
“Following President Trump’s decisive victory, House and Senate Republicans now have a responsibility to do everything we can to help the President fulfill the promises he made to the American people,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter dated Wednesday.
The letter was addressed to incoming Senate Republican Leader John Thune (S.D.) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
“One of those promises was to secure our borders and restore the integrity of our nation’s immigration system after four years of President Biden’s open border policies,” the letter continues. “That is why we believe it is critical that we prioritize the prompt passage of a border security focused reconciliation bill.”
Signatories to the letter included Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).
House members signing it included Reps. Andy Harris (R-Md.), Chip Roy (R-Texas), Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Josh Brecheen (R-Okla.), Bob Good (R-Va.), Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), Scott Perry (R-Pa.), Michael Cloud (R-Texas), Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.), Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), Clay Higgins (R-La.), Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), Mary Miller (R-Ill.), Barry Moore (R-Ala.), Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), Bill Posey (R-Fla.), Keith Self (R-Texas), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) and Russ Fulcher (R-Idaho).
The GOP has been battling over the order in which to move legislation, with some Republicans arguing the complexity of tax reform and the need to ensure the Trump tax cuts do not expire at the end of next year mean that bill should move first.
But Thune has endorsed the idea of moving first on a border and energy bill, and that position also has the support of top Trump adviser Stephen Miller.
The group of conservatives who sent the letter also noted the tight margins of control their party will have in both chambers next year, saying it “means that success is far from guaranteed” and because of that they “believe that a two-step reconciliation process gives us the best chance of securing passage of this transformational border security legislation.”
Under Senate special budget reconciliation rules, the party controlling both the House and Senate can move legislation through the upper chamber by backing it with a simple majority of senators rather than the normal 60 votes needed to pass contentious legislation.
The conservative lawmakers said in their letter they think “the first reconciliation bill introduced” next Congress ought to include funding lasting four years for specific border security measures, restrictions on “a non-citizen’s ability to apply for and receive taxpayer-funded welfare benefits” and measures encouraging “self-deportation by imposing significant financial penalties on aliens illegally in the United States.”
“The second budget reconciliation should primarily be focused on preventing the massive tax increase that automatically takes effect on January 1, 2026. Allowing that scenario to occur would undo the major economic benefits the country has enjoyed as a result of the landmark Trump Tax Cuts,” the lawmakers said in their letter.
The lawmakers also said that there is a need to have the second budget reconciliation bill “reduce the deficit by including necessary spending reforms and cuts” so that it can make it through Congress.
“This includes, but is not limited to, repealing the green tax credits in Democrats’ so-called ‘Inflation Reduction Act’ and the estimated $2.5 trillion worth of cuts that the Department of Government Efficiency will identify as necessary to restore the fiscal health of the nation,” they added.
The Hill has reached out to Thune's and Johnson's offices, as well as the Democratic National Committee, for comment.