The White House has yet to articulate its vision for a second, or third, reconciliation package.
House Republicans are pushing for a second megabill. The Senate GOP’s not so sure.
After a grueling ordeal to get President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” signed into law last month, Speaker Mike Johnson and other leaders are already talking about crafting at least one more domestic policy package that can pass along party lines in the Senate.
A White House official, granted anonymity to share details about private conversations, said another filibuster-skirting reconciliation bill is under discussion. The conservative Republican Study Committee has launched a “Reconciliation 2.0” working group and is hosting staff briefings throughout the summer recess to begin generating recommendations for follow-up legislation.
And Senate Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) said he’s open to considering as many as 200 tax proposals from his members that were ultimately not included in the first megabill.
But most senators have questions about what could go into another reconciliation package — and they’re casting doubts on whether it’s even politically possible to do this all over again.
“You have to have a reason to do it,” said Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.). “It’s not easy to do, so you have to have a purpose for doing it in the first place.”
That unifying purpose for Republicans the first time around was a desire to deliver Trump a major legislative victory early in his second term and prevent a tax hike that they feared would weaken the economy. Republican leaders’ decision to throw in a debt limit extension through 2026 as Treasury warned the nation would soon exceed its borrowing authority added a do-or-die incentive.