House Republicans to Release Their Plan for Passing Trump’s Agenda

House Speaker Mike Johnson talks to reporters as he departs a news conference following a House Republican Conference Caucus meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington on Dec. 10, 2024. Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

WASHINGTON—After many delays, the House Republican Conference will release a plan for enacting the campaign promises of President Donald Trump on Feb. 11, according to remarks by their leadership that morning.

The Republican Party has a majority in both houses of Congress, though it cannot pass partisan legislation using normal proceedings because of the Senate’s “cloture” requirement—which requires 60 senators to vote to limit debate on a measure, or else it is filibustered. With Republicans only holding 53 seats in the Senate, they do not have enough votes to invoke cloture, and 7 Democrats are unlikely to support them.

Hence, the party is relying on a restrictive process known as “budget reconciliation,” where the cloture requirement is averted, to pass legislation that would fulfill several campaign promises made by Trump and other Republicans during the 2024 election, such as increasing funds for border security and extending provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The reconciliation process does not allow for non-fiscal policy changes—provisions must be germane to taxation, spending, and public borrowing—and their effect can only last up to 10 years.

Since the beginning of the 119th Congress on Jan. 3, Republicans in the Senate and House have been negotiating among themselves on the details of a reconciliation process, which will apply to Fiscal Year 2025. The negotiations have been stymied by disagreements on the number of bills and their provisions, with some fiscal conservatives demanding deep cuts to public spending in exchange for the likely multitrillion-dollar cost of other provisions. Disagreements reached an impasse on Feb. 5, with the Senate Republican Conference electing to begin a parallel process that would allow for two reconciliation bills for Fiscal Year 2025, while the House continues to negotiate.

On Feb. 11, House Speaker Mike Johnson indicated that his conference was close to reaching an agreement on their reconciliation process and would release a plan later that day. He also indicated that the House Budget Committee would begin a “markup,” or bill preparation, process for a budget resolution—the first step in the reconciliation process—on Feb. 13.

“The markup is going to be scheduled for Thursday. That’s the intention,” Johnson said. “[We] will be rolling out the details of that, probably by tonight.”

The House’s plan is likely to be different from the Senate’s plan. Johnson has consistently stated that only one reconciliation bill can pass the House, where Republicans presently have a single-seat majority, and the conference is more divided on spending cuts.

House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.