After six years, Republicans are getting another shot at the political trifecta in Washington but already face a growing to-do list that risks bogging down President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda and slowing the pace of cabinet confirmations — particularly if they get sidetracked by infighting.
Senate Republicans huddled for half of the day Tuesday in the Library of Congress — with Trump calling in at one point — to brainstorm different ideas for legislation they could wrangle through during the next two years amid various mounting roadblocks on the horizon.
But before they can get through that, the upper chamber will have to pass controversial selections for the cabinet — some of whom like former Rep. Matt Gaetz have already been forced to withdraw amid indications that moderate Republicans wouldn’t confirm him.
“We got a lot of learning to do still, we got a lot of consensus building, we got thin majorities, and we’re gonna need a lot of leadership from Trump and I expect that he’ll be up to the task,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) told reporters after the meeting.
For the most part, Republican senators are deferring to Trump on his forthcoming nominations — with the recent exception of Defense Secretary-designee Pete Hegseth, whose nomination has been clouded by resurfaced allegations of sexual misconduct and alcohol abuse.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Tuesday told CBS News that the allegations were “disturbing” and indicated confirming the Pentagon pick, who has strenuously denied the stories as baseless smears, was “going to be difficult.”
It also only takes four votes to sink any nominee.
Among seasoned lawmakers in particular, there’s hope that Republicans can accomplish more during the next two years than they did during their last time with the trifecta.
“I’m impressed with how quickly the transition is moving because if we remember in the last cycle they didn’t move quickly enough,” Tillis reflected on the transition. “And so, clearly, when you’re moving in that speed, something’s an ideally we should check up on, you don’t get to.”
Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) floated a plan to push legislation through for Trump to sign within roughly a month of taking office that would address the border crisis, energy policy and national defense, multiple senators confirmed.
He would do so by taking advantage of the Senate’s budget reconciliation process to bypass the filibuster, which requires a 60-vote threshold to overcome — something Republicans lack for partisan legislation.
Later in the year, the Senate GOP would take up another reconciliation bill to focus on renewing the tax cuts that Trump signed into law during his first term as well as other priorities that may spring up.
Still, Republicans are on track to have one of the thinnest majorities in decades in the House of Representatives at the start of next year.
And GOP senators will have to finish off government funding for the current fiscal year in addition to confirming Trump’s cabinet picks.
“I think we’re going to be very busy [at the] beginning of the year,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) predicted to reporters, adding that she would like to see Congress finish up the disaster relief bill before Christmas and the fiscal year 2025 appropriations by January.
“There’s gonna be a ton of work to do.”
The 119th Congress will also have to revisit the debt ceiling. Next year will also see the expiration of provisions in the tax cuts passed during the first Trump administration as well as an expiration of the expanded Affordable Care Act subsidies.
Historically, those items have proven difficult to address politically.
“I’m for whatever we can get the votes for. Seriously,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who vied with Thune for the majority leader slot but lost, said with a laugh.
Despite the obstacles ahead, Republicans are staying optimistic that they can push through a strong agenda during their second stint with a Trump presidency and bicameral control of Congress.
“If you were in the room today, we were a very unified voice,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), who was recently elected chair of the Senate Republican Policy Committee and organized the Senate policy event.
“Yeah, there’s a lot of different ideas — really big ideas in terms of cutting spending [and] getting rid of all this bloat we’ve seen,” she added, stressing she thought the suggestions were doable. “I don’t think it’s too ambitious.”
