- The Washington Times - Wednesday, December 18, 2024

Senate and House conservatives want Republicans to pass a border security funding bill early next year that is not only fully offset by spending cuts, but also achieves additional savings for deficit reduction.

Sen. Rick Scott, Florida Republican, and House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, Maryland Republican, led a letter signed by 26 other conservative GOP lawmakers to party leadership outlining their demands for border security legislation.

The bill would be passed using the budget reconciliation process, which lets Republicans skirt a Senate filibuster and pass the bill through both chambers along party lines. But that process comes with strict rules that mandate only provisions with a significant impact on spending or revenues can be included. 

The border security funding should “not only be fully offset with real mandatory spending cuts — not relying on spending reductions that President Trump will make through executive action — but also achieve deficit reduction with additional spending cuts at a level the conferences require and are realistic for passage,” the conservatives wrote in the letter to incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune, South Dakota Republican, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican. 

The conservatives said they want the bill to provide four years of funding to “complete and strengthen” the southern border wall that President-elect Donald Trump started in his first term and enough money to hire thousands of Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and agents.

They also requested the bill “ensure a substantial increase in the number of ICE and CBP detention and short-term holding facilities.”

Two of their policy ideas — “imposing significant financial penalties on aliens illegally in the United States” and limiting noncitizens’ ability to receive taxpayer-funded welfare benefits — are designed to “encourage self-deportation” but could also help achieve revenue and budget savings. 

GOP leaders agree that border security should be among the first legislative priorities Congress passes using the reconciliation process. But some internal debate involves whether Republicans can pass one or two reconciliation bills next year. 

Mr. Thune has advocated for a two-bill approach and discussed adding other national security priorities, like defense funding and measures to encourage domestic energy production, to the border security measure. His plan then calls for a second bill that would include an extension of the 2017 Trump tax cuts that are set to expire at the end of 2025, along with any new tax policy and spending cuts Republicans want to include. 

Mr. Johnson has not taken a definitive stance, but most of his conference is pushing for a catchall bill combining all of those priorities. Tax writers in particular are concerned that it may be difficult to get enough votes to pass the tax cuts without other GOP sweeteners like border security.

Mr. Scott, Mr. Harris and the other Senate and House conservatives who signed their letter said they prefer to prioritize passage of a border security-focused reconciliation bill. 

“Mindful that our slim majority in the House and the filibuster in the Senate means that success is far from guaranteed, we believe that a two-step reconciliation process gives us the best chance of securing passage of this transformational border security legislation,” they wrote.

The conservatives said a second tax-focused budget reconciliation package should also reduce the deficit “by including necessary spending reforms and cuts,” like the $2.5 trillion worth of savings that the Department of Government Efficiency has promised to identify. 

They did suggest that the extension of the Trump tax cuts should be estimated using dynamic scoring to account for economic growth impacts that could help offset what would otherwise cost trillions of dollars under the traditional static scoring models.

“There are obviously many details to be worked out, but we are committed to helping both of you gain the support and passage of these budget reconciliation packages in the House and Senate,” the conservatives said to Mr. Thune and Mr. Johnson.

• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.

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