President Donald Trump laid out twin demands for new party-line Republican legislation Wednesday night, directing lawmakers to deliver a massive Pentagon cash infusion and to push through an election overhaul that has stalled for weeks in the Senate.
Trump detailed his request for the bill, to be passed under budget reconciliation rules that can avoid a filibuster from Senate Democrats, in a Truth Social post calling on the GOP to act “IMMEDIATELY.”
“No games, no delays, and no weak compromises!” he wrote. “Do this ASAP.”
The legislation would be Republicans’ third attempt at a reconciliation bill this Congress, following last year’s tax-cuts-focused “big, beautiful bill” and the $70 billion immigration enforcement funding infusion Trump just signed Wednesday morning.
GOP congressional leaders, particularly in the House, have taken preliminary steps toward “Reconciliation 3.0” in recent months. But there is still massive skepticism in the Republican ranks over whether it can get done in the handful of scheduled legislative workweeks remaining before the November midterms.
The immigration enforcement bill barely made it over the finish line, given both the tight House and Senate margins and Trump repeatedly introducing political complications, such as asking for funding that could be used for his controversial White House ballroom.
Now Trump is asking for $350 billion in new defense spending, on top of his administration’s pending fiscal 2027 request, as well as passage of the stalled SAVE America Act.
Two top Senate appropriators, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, both suggested at a hearing this week on the administration’s defense budget that another party-line bill was a pipe dream.
Among the challenges GOP leaders will face: Fiscal hawks in the party will demand offsets for the Pentagon funding that could necessitate cuts to safety-net programs that vulnerable incumbents are likely to resist making just months ahead of Election Day.
The SAVE America Act, meanwhile, has repeatedly fallen short of the support it needs to pass the Senate, and very little of that legislation is thought to comply with the strict fiscal rules governing the reconciliation process.
Top congressional Republicans are just as likely to note what Trump did not include in his request, such as additional tax cuts some in the GOP are promoting or cost-cutting “anti-fraud” measures eyed by fiscal hawks.
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