Miraculous Victory: Trump, Johnson, and the Budget Bill

When Speaker Johnson called House members back to vote on the budget reconciliation bill within 10 minutes of dismissing them, I was deeply impressed.As a former speaker of the House, I keenly appreciated Mr. Johnson’s position. Only one Republican could defect if the bill was going to pass. I also knew that Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky would never budge.Mr. Massie’s stubbornness meant Mr. Johnson could not afford to lose an additional Republican. The Democrats had made it clear they would be unified in opposition.I watched Mr. Johnson work for weeks. He listened to every member and gradually assembled the majority through patient negotiations. He was ably helped by Congressmen including the House Budget Committee chairman, Jodey Arrington; the Ways and Means Committee chairman, Jason Smith; and the Energy and Commerce chairman, Brett Guthrie.In the leadership, Representatives including the majority leader, Steve Scalise; the whip, Tom Emmer; and the conference chairwoman, Lisa McClain, all worked diligently to assemble the majority.Mr. Emmer reported there was a solid and effective effort to get more than 100 outside groups to endorse the budget. Every committee chairman signed a letter endorsing the bill. Gradually, the House GOP rallied all but four members. Finally, at crunch time, President Trump intervened. He convinced three of the four to vote for the budget. It was a miraculous achievement in a House so narrowly divided.This vote was the real deal. Mr. Johnson had worked with his members to develop the “one big, beautiful bill” for which Mr. Trump had called.Frankly, passing the tax cuts, deregulation efforts, energy provisions, and affordability proposals by May or June is vital to the survival of the House GOP next year. The Senate GOP was fixated on a two-bill process. Republican senators wanted to do the easy border bill first — then eventually get around to the harder economic bill. This strategy would be a disaster. It would postpone the economic stimulus we need to have economic growth in 2026. This would make it vastly more difficult to keep the House in the midterm elections.The Senate strategy was further undermined by the success of the Trump administration’s initial border control and deportation measures. The Southwest border has seen a 93 percent drop in illegal immigration since Mr. Trump took office. It will presently be at the level of the 1960s.Frankly, Republican senators didn’t think Mr. Johnson could pass the bill. Now, they must face reality. Messrs. Johnson and Trump have engineered precisely the circumstances that senators were trying to avoid.What excuse do they have now for not taking up the tax and spending cuts?Historians will look back on this week’s miraculous House victory as a major turning point. It will mark the start of an amazing period of reforming Washington and relaunching the economy.This could be the start of America’s new golden age of prosperity, technological achievement, and security.Messrs. Trump and Johnson are turning into an historically formidable team for reform and change in Washington.As a former speaker, I find all this nothing short of miraculous.

Miraculous Victory: Trump, Johnson, and the Budget Bill

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