Johnson says talks with Trump were productive, but some hardliners are frustrated

Speaker Mike Johnson called House Republicans’ meeting at the White House with President Donald Trump “very productive,” but declined to share specific details about the budget plan to fund his agenda.

While other Republicans echoed Johnson’s assessment, at least one Republican described the four-hour meeting as “at times” tense.

Johnson said a cross-section of the House Republican Conference worked to generate consensus on their strategy and will meet later Thursday “to finish up some final details.”

He said he thinks they’ll be able to make “some sort of announcement probably by tomorrow.”

Johnson declined to specify if the plan will include dealing with the debt limit, which Trump has said he wants either raised or eliminated.

“I’m not going to get into any of the details. Because that’s part of our discussion tonight. We all committed that we wouldn’t go out and telegraph all this before it’s done but it’s very close and probably by tonight, we wrap it all up,” Johnson said, adding that Trump wouldn’t be needed to conclude discussions Thursday evening.

Republicans have said they want to get a bill through both chambers and to Trump by Easter, which is April 20, or by Memorial Day at the latest.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters while the meeting was going on that Trump had laid out his tax priorities for the group, most of which he had promised during the presidential campaign: not tax on tips, Social Security or overtime pay; renewing his 2017 tax cuts; adjusting the cap on state and local taxes; eliminating tax breaks for professional sports team owners; closing the carried interest tax deduction loophole; and tax cuts for products made in the U.S.

"This will be the largest tax cut in history for middle class, working Americans," she said. "The President is committed to working with Congress to get this done."

Johnson said the goal is for the House Budget Committee to meet early next week to mark up a budget resolution, which would unlock the reconciliation process.

Johnson said that Trump “put a steady hand at the wheel.”

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said they hoped to mark up a budget resolution next week -- a week later than leadership had initially targeted.

“President Trump was very engaged throughout the meeting and we are narrowing down the areas of differences. Definitely was a lot of give and take between the members of the group that we had assembled.”

House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington agreed that the meeting was “very productive” as his committee aims at passing a budget resolution to unlock the budget reconciliation process.

Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., a key moderate voice in the caucus, said the meeting was tense “at times.”

Asked if there was tension in the meeting, Arrington replied, “I mean, look, we all care about getting this right.”

Some hardliners who insist on bigger budget cuts weren’t invited to the meeting and are frustrated.

“They’re not telling me what’s in the daggum bill,” Rep. Tim Burchett, R.-Tenn.) said. “I just had it out with some leadership in there.”

Burchett said leadership showed him some points of a potential deal “on the back of a card” on the House floor.

Republicans must pass a budget resolution to unlock a complex process to enact sweeping reforms to taxes, energy, border security and more. But Johnson currently has just a one-vote cushion to pass legislation through the lower chamber, so Republican leaders are cognizant that dissenting Republicans could doom their collective efforts.

“We've got to work very meticulously with our members to first make sure we have the votes to get a budget passed,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said before the meeting. “We can't have 22 [Republicans] opposing. We can't have four opposing. And so we're working through a lot more detail now on what reconciliation would look like on the front end before we actually get the budget passed.”

Scalise also raised concerns about the Senate’s evolving approach, which could punt tax reform to a second attempt to overhaul the budget late this year. The No. 2 House Republican explained that delaying tax reform in 2017 undercut the anticipated economic growth at the time.

“You didn't really get the bounce because it took so long to get the second bill done,” Scalise said. “The President remembers that. You know, it's one of the reasons we lost the majority. And so do you want to repeat that history, or do you want to do it earlier? You get the benefits earlier, and increase the likelihood that you actually get tax [reform], because the question of whether or not you can even pass a second bill is a real, real, serious concern.”

Senate Budget Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told senators during a closed-door lunch on Wednesday that the Senate will take the reins and begin work to advance its own package next week.