Senate Republicans are preparing to move forward with a budget plan that will enable them to implement President Donald J. Trump’s agenda, eyeing a vote later this week. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) said late last week that the budget resolution is “in the process of being drafted” after he and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) met with top tax leaders earlier in the week to map out the path forward. House and Senate Republicans had previously forged ahead with their own budget blueprints, but they must adopt the same budget plan to continue on in the reconciliation process — a complicated maneuver that allows Congress to bypass the 60-vote threshold typically required in the Senate. The budget resolution could come up as soon as mid-week, which would start a clock of up to 50 hours of debate and set up a late week vote-a-rama, which allows senators to introduce an unlimited number of amendments and force the chamber to vote through the night. Budget resolutions serve as a blueprint, directing congressional committees to craft their own proposals to hit spending targets, increasing or decreasing funding by adjusting programs and policies that fall under their purview. The final product must be deficit-neutral to comply with reconciliation rules. But the resolution’s biggest hurdle could come from the Senate parliamentarian, who is expected to weigh in in the coming days on an accounting approach, known as the current policy baseline, which Senate Republicans have pursued. As Republicans look to extend the 2017 tax cuts, the approach would make it appear that extending the current tax policy would cost nothing. Whether the parliamentarian signs off on the gambit remains to be seen.
In the Senate today, votes are expected later in the day, including a Democratic-led forced vote to block Canadian tariffs. Senate Democrats are forcing their GOP colleagues to vote on a resolution that would end President Trump’s 25% tariff on Canadian goods, one day before President Trump unveils his controversial plans for broader global tariffs. Trump plans to formally introduce the tariffs at a 4 P.M. event in the White House Rose Garden on Wednesday. The resolution put forward by Senator Tim Kaine, (D-Virginia), would end an emergency declaration that Trump implemented in February to put tariffs on Canada for not going far enough to stop fentanyl from crossing the northern border into the United States.
The House is expected to take up H. Res. __ – Providing for consideration of the joint resolution (S.J. Res. 18) disapproving the rule submitted by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection relating to “Overdraft Lending: Very Large Financial Institutions”; providing for consideration of the joint resolution (S.J. Res. 28) disapproving the rule submitted by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection relating to ‘‘Defining Larger Participants of a Market for General-Use Digital Consumer Payment Applications” ; providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 1526) to amend title 28, United States Code, to limit the authority of district courts to provide injunctive relief, and for other purposes, and providing for the consideration of the bill (H.R. 22) to amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require proof of United States citizenship to register an individual to vote in elections for Federal office, and for other purposes.
The House is also expected to consider, S.J. Res. 18 – A joint resolution disapproving the rule submitted by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection relating to “Overdraft Lending: Very Large Financial Institutions,” S.J. Res. 28 – A joint resolution disapproving the rule submitted by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection relating to “Defining Larger Participants of a Market for General-Use Digital Consumer Payment Applications” and H.R. 1491 – Disaster Related Extension of Deadlines Act, as amended.
