Johnson lays out timeline to pass reconciliation bill for Trump agenda

The package will include policies ranging from taxes and energy to immigration and national defense, which will all be tied together in a single reconciliation bill to be passed by the House and Senate. It’s not yet clear what specific measures will be tucked into the package, but Johnson told Fox News on Sunday the goal is to finalize instructions for the reconciliation bill by February. 

“It’ll have a lot of pieces. We’ve made a lot of campaign promises; President Trump did as well, and reconciliation is the way to get it done,” Johnson told Maria Bartiromo on Sunday Morning Futures. “Reconciling the budget, which we will pass in early February, is how we’ll get all of our committees, committees of jurisdiction involved on all these big issues.”

Republicans have been planning for months to use budget reconciliation to secure early wins for Trump, utilizing the rare procedural tool to circumvent Democratic opposition in the Senate to advance key agenda items. There are certain rules for how often reconciliation can be used, and Republicans will only be able to utilize it for budget-related legislation such as taxes, spending, and the debt limit.

But Republicans can’t start moving their spending priorities through Congress on day one. Reconciliation requires both the House and Senate to pass a budget resolution, which sets tax and spending levels that are then directed to specific committees to achieve a certain budgetary outcome. 

Johnson said he hopes to accomplish that by February, which would then pave the way for committees to create legislation adhering...