What could Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ look like?

President-elect Trump said that Republicans are working to craft a “powerful” piece of legislation to advance his agenda.

Republicans had already begun preparing to use a special procedure known as budget reconciliation to bypass Democratic opposition in the Senate to extend expiring provisions in Trump’s signature 2017 tax law. But calls have grown in the party in recent months to use the maneuver to enact other parts of Trump’s agenda, including border security.

Divides have emerged among Republicans over how to act on those priorities, including whether a two-package or one-package approach is preferable, as leadership faces a tall task to keep the party unified behind a strategy — particularly the narrow House GOP majority.

Here are some of the ideas that Republicans have floated including.

Tax cuts

Extending key parts of Trump’s signature Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has been a top-of-mind issue for many congressional Republicans as they chart out their reconciliation wishlist.

That includes individual provisions that are set to expire later this year, which, if lapsed, would mean higher income tax rates for most earners, a lower standard deduction, and a rollback of the cap on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction, among other changes.

Republicans have signaled there could be some added tweaks, with Trump also reiterating his proposal to end taxes on tips.

“Members of Congress are getting to work on one powerful Bill that will bring our Country back, and make it greater than ever before,” he wrote on his Truth Social site this week. “We must Secure our Border, Unleash American Energy, and Renew the Trump Tax Cuts, which were the largest in History, but we will make it even better - NO TAX ON TIPS.”

Border security 

Border security has also emerged as a key provision of whatever reconciliation bill Republicans attempt to pass. But they disagree on whether to pass it in one package with tax provisions, or in a separate, smaller package that can be done more quickly.

“Delaying border security is a dangerous idea,” Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said. “If you can do it all in April, maybe it works, but I’m very leery.”

Republicans have floated funding for border wall construction and additional detention beds, though specifics are still under discussion.

Trump, who said on Tuesday that he thinks he was elected “largely because of the border,” has indicated he prefers one large bill, but signaled openness to a two-package approach.

“I like one big beautiful bill and I always have,” Trump said on Tuesday. “I always will, but if two is more certain, it does go a little bit quicker because you can do the immigration stuff.”

Trump additionally voiced support for taking action on areas like energy and defense as part of the potential package.

His comments come as some Republicans have also raised concern over how tax reforms would fare under the two-pronged given the difficulty of moving two budget reconciliation packages, particularly when considering the party’s slim control in the House. 

Debt limit

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said on Tuesday that part of the plan is for Republicans to act on the nation’s debt limit using the reconciliation process. 

“The intention is to handle the debt limit in reconciliation in the process, and that way, as the Republican Party, the party in charge of both chambers, we then get to determine the details of that,” Johnson told reporters.

“If it runs through regular order or regular process and as a standalone, or as part of the appropriations, for example, then you have to have both parties negotiating, and we feel like we’re in better stead to do it ourselves,” he also said.

Trump previously called on Republicans to act on the nation’s debt ceiling as part of a bipartisan deal that averted a government shutdown in December. But that effort fell flat as Democrats and some conservatives pushed back on the demand. 

The party out of power — which Democrats are this year — can demand major concessions in return for agreeing to raise the debt limit. Republicans successfully used the strategy in the last Congress to secure a deal with President Biden that suspended the debt ceiling through the end of 2024, along with caps on some federal spending. 

Spending cuts

Republicans have also discussed the prospect of a deal to pair a $1.5 trillion increase in the debt limit with $2.5 trillion in spending cuts using budget reconciliation.

At the time news broke of the handshake agreement last month, Republicans said the focus of the cuts would be mandatory spending, which also covers entitlement funding. Democrats seized on the news at the time, accusing Republicans of wanting to set sights on Social Security, but the special budget maneuver cannot be used to make changes to the program.

Johnson appeared to rule out Republicans pursuing Medicare cuts as part of the reconciliation process when asked by CNN recently.

“No,” the Speaker said, adding Trump “has made very clear, Social Security and Medicare have to be preserved and we are not, no one is coming in with the intention of cutting benefits in any way or anything.”

Al Weaver and Mychael Schnell contributed.