Trump huddles with Senate Republicans at Capitol to map out legislative agenda

President-elect Donald Trump visited the Capitol on Wednesday to meet with Senate Republicans and discuss the party’s legislative agenda.

Republicans have been united on their broad goals — to secure the border, restore American energy dominance, cut taxes and rein in spending — but divided on the best strategy for passage given their narrow House and Senate majorities.

The debate centers on whether to package all those priorities into a single bill, which would take several months to produce, or to quickly move some of the border and energy provisions first.

“We’re looking at the one bill versus two bills. And whatever it is doesn’t matter. We’re going to get the result,” Mr. Trump told reporters heading into the meeting. “And we’re going to make America great again.”

In the room, Mr. Trump reiterated his preference for “one big, beautiful bill,” as he’s stated publicly. But he also remained open to the two-bill approach as senators pitched him on it. 

Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican, said he “expressed vigorously” to Mr. Trump that the best approach is to secure two victories, with a first bill focused on securing the border, rebuilding the military and unleashing American energy. 

“Why? Because that unifies Republicans, because we can get that passed,” he said. “We can have a major victory early on.”

Mr. Cruz said the reason to hold an extension and expansion of the 2017 Trump tax cuts for a second bill is not lack of support but the time it will take to put together such a bill and figure out the spending cut and revenue offsets — the “pay-for” provisions in Capitol language.

“Every Republican wants to extend the tax cuts,” he said. “There’s not a single Republican that wants a $4 trillion tax increase.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, made the case for moving quickly with a border bill first.

“We should put points on the board, secure our border and have a sense of urgency with that,” he said.

Mr. Graham is chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, which will play a key role because Republicans will use the budget reconciliation process to advance their agenda by skirting a Senate filibuster and passing the legislation with only Republican votes if Democrats object.

Sen. John Hoeven, North Dakota Republican, said Mr. Trump likes a horse race, so he suggested the president-elect allow the Senate and House to pursue their different approaches and pick one later based on which chamber has gotten furthest in producing a work product.

“When I suggested the horse race, he said, ‘Well we’ll see.’ He was kind of open but not relinquishing his preference for the one [bill],” Mr. Hoeven said. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, South Dakota Republican, said after the closed-door meeting that Republicans were “all in line with getting the result” and the process arguments “are a lot less important.”

He said the Senate GOP wants to give House Speaker Mike Johnson “as much space as possible” on his preference for a single bill, but noted that “we are here to move as well.” 

“It’s an ongoing conversation, to put it that way, but in the end we all want the same result,” Mr. Thune said. 

The bicameral dispute is complicated by the fact that Republicans can lose few votes in either chamber — the House has a paper-thin majority and the Senate’s is not much bigger — and by the chambers’ occasional conflicting priorities.

One item that Senate Republicans have been discussing but has not been on the House’s priority list is increasing defense spending. 

“We’re working on investing in improvements to military readiness that will help restore American strength so that we can deter our adversaries and keep the peace,” Mr. Thune said in a floor speech earlier Wednesday.

Although Republicans have excluded Democrats from the reconciliation process, that hasn’t stopped them from expressing their opinions.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, said it’s “obscene” that Republicans are prioritizing an extension of the 2017 tax cuts, which he called “a disaster.”

“Instead of working in a bipartisan way to put the needs of working Americans first, Republicans are getting ready to use the reconciliation process to reward the richest Americans and give more tax breaks to America’s biggest corporations,” he said.