President Donald Trump stunned GOP senators Wednesday when he appeared to reject their approach to to tackling his key priorities and, instead, embraced House Speaker Mike Johnson’s behemoth bill.
“I didn’t see that one coming,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune conceded.
Still, Thune and his GOP conference forged ahead with plans to bring their own legislation to the floor, saying at least they’ll have “Plan B” in place should the House flounder. “We believe the president likes optionality,” Thune said after the Senate GOP’s private lunch with Vice President JD Vance, which came shortly after Trump took aim at the Senate bill—catching some in the upper chamber off guard.
Trump took to social media to announce whose side he was taking in the House v. Senate race to enact his campaign pledges in the form a budget bill. And the president’s choice inevitably left one side spurned—and one senator, in particular: Lindsey Graham, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee.
“The House and Senate are doing a SPECTACULAR job of working together as one unified, and unbeatable, TEAM, however, unlike the Lindsey Graham version of the very important Legislation currently being discussed, the House Resolution implements my FULL America First Agenda, EVERYTHING, not just parts of it!” Trump blared on Truth Social.
Vance told senators over lunch that “the president prefers one big, beautiful bill, so do I, but you always need a plan B around here, so we’re going to move forward tomorrow,” Graham quoted Vance as saying.
House GOP leaders have been adamant that the Senate bill sponsored by Graham is dead on arrival, going nowhere when the House returns next week from its extended holiday recess.
“Thune and Graham [are] moving ahead like Thelma and Louise gunning it for the cliff,” one senior Republican source told the Daily Beast.
Senate GOP leaders gave the appearance of having the upper hand on Tuesday as they scheduled floor debate on their own plan, with the House away.
But some Republican senators conceded Wednesday their bill wasn’t exactly what Trump had ordered. “The president has made it very clear he wants one big, beautiful, glamorous bill,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) said.
In his Truth Social post earlier Wednesday, Trump said, “We need both Chambers to pass the House Budget to ‘kickstart’ the Reconciliation process, and move all of our priorities to the concept of, ‘ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL.’ It will, without question, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
The speaker soaked up Trump’s praise for the House approach, posting on X that the president “is right!”
But one House GOP lawmaker said the Senate’s move is probably wise in the end because it may “keep pressure on the House” to put its bill to a floor vote and, as Vance and Thune both noted, provides a “default option” if House Republicans fall victim to their own infighting with a perilously narrow majority. In the end, what is needed for Republicans who want to maintain their majority in the House and Senate is a record of legislative wins show voters ahead of the 2025 midterm elections.
Graham’s bill is a much narrower version of the ambitious House GOP blueprint, which addresses enhanced border security, energy reforms, tax cuts and defense spending.
It remains doubtful whether the House currently has the votes to pass its bill on the floor, with lawmakers from different factions expressing a range of competing concerns.
“It’s gonna be a heavy lift,” one senior House Republican lawmaker told the Daily Beast.
