Republicans Race Against the Clock To Get Another ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Done

President Trump and Republicans in Congress are racing against the clock to pass a third reconciliation bill in just two years — a feat never before accomplished by any president. Mr. Trump is looking to add hundreds of billions of dollars to the military budget as part of the burgeoning legislative proposal. The use of the budget reconciliation process has become increasingly popular in the last 25 years, helping presidents pass key legislative accomplishments with narrow congressional majorities. President George W. Bush’s first round of tax cuts, President Biden’s covid-era stimulus plan and his subsequent green energy subsidy bill, and Mr. Trump’s first term tax bill were all passed via reconciliation. Last summer, Mr. Trump and Republicans used the reconciliation process to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — legislation to make his first term tax cuts permanent and invest in the mass deportation force. Just last week, the Senate passed a three-year funding bill for immigration enforcement agencies thanks to the reconciliation process. Under budget reconciliation, the Senate’s 60-vote threshold is irrelevant, allowing lawmakers to pass legislation with a simple majority. Now, Mr. Trump wants to use that process — likely for the last time in his political career — to boost military spending and push a number of other legislative items. In a Truth Social post on Wednesday, the president called for an additional $350 billion in funding for the Pentagon. He says the money will be used for his Golden Dome missile defense system and other enhanced military capabilities. “This is a GENERATIONAL Investment in our Military, even bigger than President Reagan’s! [Reconciliation] 3.0 is the ONLY path to the full $1.5 TRILLION DOLLAR Military Budget our Warriors need in order to build THE ARSENAL OF FREEDOM,” Mr. Trump wrote in his post. “We will defend the Homeland with the Golden Dome, launch the unstoppable Golden Fleet, dominate the skies with the F-47 and B-21, supercharge our ammunition stockpiles, and achieve total Space Force and Drone Dominance!” “This Budget reignites American Industry, creates hundreds of thousands of high-paying American Jobs, and secures our Global Dominance without fueling Inflation,” Mr. Trump wrote. The president has called for a $1.5 trillion Pentagon budget for the coming year, though due to the 60-vote threshold in the Senate, Democrats have the power to block such legislation. It is unlikely that Democrats will go along with a more than 50 percent increase in annual military spending, with several top Democratic appropriators already saying that the topline number is unworkable. Never before has a president been able to sign three reconciliation bills in the first two years of his term. Mr. Biden was only able to sign two, and that was only after he gave serious concessions to a number of more moderate lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Even more difficult for Mr. Trump will be his demand that the SAVE America Act be included in the final version. That bill would require Americans to prove their citizenship when registering to vote and then showing photo ID when they go to vote. He is asking for even more than that, however. He wants a severe restriction on mail voting, a ban on transgender athletes competing in sports leagues designated for other sexes, and a prohibition on transgender hormone therapies and surgeries for minors. Under the reconciliation process, every part of the bill must deal primarily with federal spending and revenues. Over the course of the last 18 months, Republicans have tried to include the president’s policy demands, though every time they were ruled out of order under the Senate’s rules. Just last week, a majority of the Senate — including four Republicans — voted against attaching the SAVE America Act to the immigration enforcement spending bill. The current version of the SAVE America act makes no mention of mail voting or anything to do with transgender Americans. If Republicans on Capitol Hill can kick off the next reconciliation package this coming week, then it is unlikely that much else will be done between now and the midterm elections. At minimum, an overhaul of the federal budget will take three months, based on the history of past reconciliation bills. Congress is due to go on their August recess in just five weeks, which means they would have to address the legislation come mid-September. Lawmakers are supposed to be in town for a matter of days at that point, given the campaigning necessary for the midterms.

Republicans Race Against the Clock To Get Another ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Done

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