Republicans are running out of time to pass President Donald Trump’s agenda and tackle the affordability crisis as the midterm elections inch closer.
With the midterms looming, Republicans have struggled to pass several policy agendas, including funding immigration enforcement, addressing affordability and adding voter identification requirements. Republicans are on a time crunch to address the hot-button issues for voters, including the economy and immigration, before they cast their ballots in November.
The Senate has 53 days in session before November, while the House has about 40.
A second reconciliation package aimed at funding immigration enforcement will not reach Trump’s desk by his June 1 deadline, leaving Senate Republicans scrambling to pass the package once they return from Memorial Day recess. Republicans are uncertain on how to handle the Trump administration’s $1.8 billion fund that would pay people alleging the justice system was “weaponized” against them, as many senators intended to use the package to restrict the fund.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said his colleagues wanted to place conditions on who could receive the fund payments, adding that he did not see a need for this fund. Republican Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy claimed the fund would allow Trump to hand payments to people without any “legal precedent or accountability,” while Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said the fund would “compensate people who assaulted Capitol Police officers.” (RELATED: Here Are All The Times Congressional Lawmakers Gave Themselves A Vacation In Past Year)
Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi of New York also introduced legislation on May 21 to prohibit the use of taxpayer money for the fund.
WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 18: U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks to the media after the vote on the government funding bill at the U.S. Capitol on September 18, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Republicans appear hopeful they can get reconciliation passed before the midterms, with Republican North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer telling Semafor that passing the package “is way too important not to do.”
The package would provide over $30.73 billion to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), $22.57 billion to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and $2.5 billion in Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations through 2029. Senate Republicans drafted the legislation in response to the 76-day shutdown of DHS after Democrats refused to fund the agency following high-profile shootings involving immigration agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in January.
The package faced more hurdles because of Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, who ruled that four sections violated the Byrd Rule, which dictates that provisions in a reconciliation bill must have a direct, non-incidental impact on the federal budget. The impacted provisions involved funding for Border Patrol, Department of Homeland Security appropriations and additional funds to screen unaccompanied migrant children.
“From day one, Senate Republicans have committed our majority to providing Americans with safer streets, more money in their pockets, and new opportunities to get ahead,” Thune told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “There’s no better example of that success than the historic Working Families Tax Cuts bill, which included more than 100 individual bills aimed at making Americans’ lives safer and more secure. But with six months until Election Day, there’s plenty more to be done, and we won’t take our foot off the gas to continue getting our shared Republican agenda in place and putting Democrats on record for their out-of-touch priorities.”
Senate Republicans have also struggled to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, which would require all voters to provide documentation proving their U.S. citizenship before casting a ballot in a federal election. The legislation passed the House on April 10, though the Senate has not met the 60-vote threshold needed for it to pass the Senate.
Trump pressured Republicans to eliminate the filibuster to pass the SAVE America Act. Some Republicans, including Texas Sen. John Cornyn, have pushed to get rid of the filibuster, though not all in the party have been on board. Republicans have been unsuccessful in securing enough Democratic support for the bill, who argued that the legislation would disenfranchise certain demographics, prevent married women who changed their names from voting and end online voter registration.
Thune stated the Senate lacked the necessary votes to nuke the filibuster. Republican Texas Senate nominee Ken Paxton stated he would exit the Senate primary if the SAVE America Act passed. He defeated Cornyn by a landslide in the Tuesday runoff race after the legislation failed to pass in the chamber.
Paxton also called for the Senate to lift the filibuster to get the legislation passed, calling it the “most important bill the U.S. Senate could ever pass.”
The bill also faced opposition from Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. Murkowski said in February she would not support the bill and Tillis opposed the procedural options to pass it. Former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell also does not support the SAVE America Act and has actively voted against legislative efforts to pass it.
Republican Maine Sen. Susan Collins became the 50th senator to co-sponsor the legislation in February, giving the bill the potential for a tie-breaking vote by Vice President J.D. Vance. She is set to run for reelection against Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner in November.
Congress is also planning to pass a third reconciliation package in the summertime, which House Speaker Mike Johnson said will address affordability and anti-fraud measures. They have not passed the $1.5 trillion in spending cuts promised to holdouts of the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act, though Johnson promised they would use the reconciliation to pass these promised cuts.
House Republicans also delayed a vote on May 21 on the war powers resolution that would restrict Trump’s ability to continue the Iran war, which likely would have passed before the Memorial Day recess given that many Republicans were absent.
Under the War Powers Resolution of 1973, a president has 60 days to engage in a military conflict before Congress must either declare war or authorize the use of military force. A version of the resolution has gotten close to passing in the Senate, which most Senate Republicans have worked to defeat.
Americans overwhelmingly disapproved of the Iran war, as one PBS News Hour survey showed that 60% of the American public disapproved of the war. An Ipsos poll also found that 58% of Americans disapproved of U.S. military strikes in Iran.
Inflation skyrocketed to higher levels than expected in April as the Iran war waged on. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis in April, after increasing 0.9% in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported. Gas prices rose more than 50% since the Iran war began, with regular gas costing an average of $4.50 per gallon.
Trump’s approval on his economic handling reached record lows. A Quinnipiac poll from May 20 found that 58% of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy, while 38% approve.
The House overwhelmingly passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act on May 21, a housing affordability bill which aimed to tackle the housing crisis by expanding loans to build housing, curbing Wall Street’s ownership of single-family homes, pushing local governments to loosen permitting rules and expanding manufactured housing. Since the House amended the Senate’s version that originally passed in March, the chambers must reconcile their differences before the legislation can be sent to Trump’s desk.
Congress has repeatedly delayed final votes on reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows for warrantless surveillance of foreign nationals’ communications with Americans. House Republicans initially postponed a procedural vote in April to negotiate with hardliners and struggled to advance a three-year extension, while the Senate delayed action on the bill due to a lack of support. Both chambers need to extend Section 702 by its expiration date on June 12.
House and Senate leadership are also trying to pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, a landmark digital asset bill that aims to resolve regulatory disputes by defining which federal agencies can oversee various parts of the cryptocurrency industry.
Congress is also trying to pass the BUILD America 250 Act, a five-year surface transportation reauthorization package to fund the construction of federal highways, transits and bridges. The package passed the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on May 22, ahead of the Sept. 30 expiration date of the current infrastructure law.
Johnson’s office did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
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