Catie Edmondson

Thune himself explicitly says a number of the major agenda items that Trump has coming into the White House are ones that he believes in.

Thune himself explicitly says a number of the major agenda items that Trump has coming into the White House are ones that he believes in.

that his incentives and Trump's incentives are aligned. At the same time, he is certainly not a MAGA loyalist in the vein of Rick Scott. And I do think one of the reasons why Republican senators ultimately voted to have him lead their conference was because they are looking for a leader who is willing to assert a little bit more independence.

that his incentives and Trump's incentives are aligned. At the same time, he is certainly not a MAGA loyalist in the vein of Rick Scott. And I do think one of the reasons why Republican senators ultimately voted to have him lead their conference was because they are looking for a leader who is willing to assert a little bit more independence.

And they thought he would provide some sort of level of protection for the Senate as an institution at a time when Trump has strongly suggested he wants to co-opt that independence for his own agenda.

And they thought he would provide some sort of level of protection for the Senate as an institution at a time when Trump has strongly suggested he wants to co-opt that independence for his own agenda.

That's right. That is going to be the question of this Congress.

That's right. That is going to be the question of this Congress.

I mean, it's going to be really tough. Now, we have a blueprint of what they hope their major legislative accomplishment is going to be.

I mean, it's going to be really tough. Now, we have a blueprint of what they hope their major legislative accomplishment is going to be.

So Republicans right now are talking about shoehorning in a number of their priorities, raising the debt limit, enacting deep spending cuts, extending the Trump tax cuts from 2017, as well as cracking down on immigration, implementing these new border security policies.

So Republicans right now are talking about shoehorning in a number of their priorities, raising the debt limit, enacting deep spending cuts, extending the Trump tax cuts from 2017, as well as cracking down on immigration, implementing these new border security policies.

And they want to put it all into one bill that they're going to try to fast track through Congress using this process called budget reconciliation, which allows the Senate to pass a measure like this using just a simple majority vote.

And they want to put it all into one bill that they're going to try to fast track through Congress using this process called budget reconciliation, which allows the Senate to pass a measure like this using just a simple majority vote.

That's right. And the point of that is that it's a much lower threshold of support needed to pass this than what is usually required in the Senate. Now, the problem with this is that by jamming all of this legislation into one bill, maybe even jamming it into two bills, as some have suggested, is that this essentially becomes sort of a seesaw from hell.

That's right. And the point of that is that it's a much lower threshold of support needed to pass this than what is usually required in the Senate. Now, the problem with this is that by jamming all of this legislation into one bill, maybe even jamming it into two bills, as some have suggested, is that this essentially becomes sort of a seesaw from hell.

Well, you have lawmakers who want to include very expensive immigration measures, who want to extend the Trump tax cuts, which are estimated to cost about $4 trillion. And at the same time, they want to make sure this bill doesn't cost money or add to the nation's debt.

Well, you have lawmakers who want to include very expensive immigration measures, who want to extend the Trump tax cuts, which are estimated to cost about $4 trillion. And at the same time, they want to make sure this bill doesn't cost money or add to the nation's debt.

And so that means in order to offset the costs of all of those other policies, you're going to have to enact some really deep spending cuts. Now, there are certainly a number of lawmakers who would be happy to shutter entire agencies. These are the Republicans in the House that we've mostly been talking about today.

And so that means in order to offset the costs of all of those other policies, you're going to have to enact some really deep spending cuts. Now, there are certainly a number of lawmakers who would be happy to shutter entire agencies. These are the Republicans in the House that we've mostly been talking about today.