GOP opposition grows to moving third reconciliation package on Trump agenda

Source: The Hill

05/06/26 6:00 AM ET


The decision to advance a narrowly focused budget reconciliation bill to fund immigration enforcement operations later this month has sparked a battle among Senate Republicans over whether to pass a third reconciliation bill before the election to enact other elements of President Trump’s agenda before the midterm election.

Some Republican senators want to advance a third budget reconciliation package this summer to allocate more money for the Department of Defense, but senior GOP colleagues on the Senate Appropriations Committee are slamming the brakes on the idea. They are worried it may further diminish their power and the regular appropriations process. There’s also a push by some conservatives, including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), to enact new tax cuts, or to extend the working-class Trump tax cuts that are due to soon expire.

But that effort is meeting resistance from Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), who is warning colleagues it could force Republicans to relitigate all of the tax cuts and spending cuts enacted in last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. As a result, GOP senators are growing increasingly pessimistic about achieving any partisan legislative accomplishments after they enact legislation to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol through 2029.

Republican senators say there’s growing opposition within their conference to attempting a third budget reconciliation bill, especially among members of the Senate Appropriations panel, who believe it’s “our job,” in the words of one lawmaker, to pass funding for the Pentagon under regular order. Passing appropriations bills under regular order would mean getting Democrats to support a supplemental defense appropriations package or a beefed-up, full-year defense appropriations bill.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5864821-trump-tax-cuts-defense-spending/