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By Anna Commander
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House Speaker Mike Johnson along with Republican lawmakers held an hourslong meeting with President Donald Trump on Thursday to discuss budgets and a future spending bill.
Why It Matters
A spending bill, or "reconciliation" bill, has historically divided House Republicans as members have been split on what the bill should include. The reconciliation process attaches money to policy and needs to be passed in order to be implemented.
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Conservative Republicans are in favor of deep budget cuts and pushing Trump's agenda forward. More central-leaning Republicans are in favor of keeping certain programs in place that do or could benefit the voters in their districts.
Since winning his congressional election and subsequent Speakership title, Johnson has been treading a fine line throughout the process of budget talks as the House holds a razor-thin majority.
What To Know
After the meeting that lasted more than four hours, Johnson spoke to reporters in the Capitol following his return from the White House. In an email to Newsweek, Johnson's office shared the speaker's remarks. "We had a very good meeting at the White House, very productive. We had a large cross-section of members there from committees of important jurisdiction," Johnson said.
He said Trump "started off the meeting and sort of set the table for the discussion. And we stayed there in the cabinet meeting room for, I don't know, maybe four hours or longer." Johnson added that lawmakers "got out the whiteboards and we worked out the framework for what we believe will be the path forward. And we're gonna meet again tonight to finish up some final details.
"I think we'll be able to make some announcements probably by tomorrow. And we're excited about that. The idea would be to get the Budget Committee working potentially as early as early next week, maybe Tuesday for a markup for the budget resolution," Johnson said. "And then we'll unlock this process and get it moving."
Johnson was also scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday and hold remarks afterward. The meeting was pushed due to the budget talks, multiple outlets reported. Johnson's office told Newsweek, "Any updates on that front are forthcoming."
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What People Are Saying
In his shared remarks to Newsweek, Johnson concluded: "So our message to our friends and colleagues in the Senate is, allow the House to do its work. We are moving this as quickly and as expeditiously as possible. Very positive developments today. We're really grateful for the president, for leaning in and doing what he does best. And that is put a steady hand at the wheel and get everybody working. And that's what happened today."
Republican Representative Mike Lawler of New York said after the meeting, according to Spectrum News' Taylor Popielarz: "We made a lot of progress and we're getting closer."
Republican Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska said after the meeting, according to Popielarz: "I'm gonna defer to the speaker and the president...we had a four hour meeting...I think we're making progress, but we got more work to do." Bacon added that "at times," the meeting was tense, Popielarz says.
The Center on Budget X account on Thursday: "House Rs are considering major cuts to clean energy and climate funding, while the Trump admin moves to delay grants and loans—hitting Black, Latine, Native, and low-wealth communities hardest. Policymakers must prevent these harmful cuts and delays. https://cbpp.org/research/climate-change/with-federal-climate-funding-at-risk-policymakers-should-protect-benefits."
D. Stephen Voss, political science professor at the University of Kentucky, in an email to Newsweek: "Budgetary negotiations mostly represent risk for the Trump Administration. If Trump gets what he wants, no one is surprised because his party has unified control of the national government. If Trump fails to get what he wants, then it sends the message he's too weak to hold his own party together.
"So far, Trump has been winning confirmation battles to get his nominees into office, even the hard cases that seemed likely to challenge Republican unity. But once government turns to spending money, it becomes harder to make everyone happy, because all of the senators and representatives think that they're supposed to be securing funds for the folks back home. The political stakes of party unity get a lot higher."
What Happens Next
The meeting, according to Johnson, is continuing Thursday night.
Update 2/6/25, 8:54 p.m. ET: This story was updated with comment from Voss.
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