WASHINGTON — Last night, Speaker Johnson appeared on Fox News’ Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy to provide an update on the status of budget reconciliation and discuss the team effort between House and Senate Republicans to deliver on President Trump’s agenda.
On budget reconciliation:
Here’s the progress report: good news. Over the last week, 7 of our 11 committees of jurisdiction got their pieces of that big, beautiful bill done. And so, we have four committees yet to go, and then we push it back through the budget committee to merge it all together and send it to the Senate. I put it on a very aggressive timetable because Trey, we got to get this done for the people as soon as possible.
It will send stability out there to the markets, the bond markets and the stock market. It will allow job creators, innovators, and entrepreneurs to know that their tax rates are stabilized and permanent going forward so they can plan accordingly. And it will be like jet fuel to the economy. And by the way, we will prevent the largest tax increase in US history, which is what would happen by default at the end of this year. Failure is not an option here, we’ll get it done.
On Congressional Democrats refusal to work with Republicans:
People say, “why are you doing this all in one big, beautiful bill?” Well, you know, to remind everyone, we’re using the reconciliation process because the Democrats are in no mood to do anything for the country. You know, Chuck Schumer and the Democrats in the Senate, and Hakeem Jeffries and the Democrats in the House, they have no interest whatsoever in solving problems, so we have to do it ourselves. And you have to use the budget reconciliation process to do it. It avoids the 60-vote threshold in the Senate, so that’s why all these various components of the bill are put together.
On the relationship between House and Senate Republicans:
Leader Thune and I meet and talk regularly, multiple times a week, because we understand this is a one team effort. And I know that’s an innovation Trey. I mean, in Washington, the House and the Senate don’t typically work together in that fashion, as you well know, but this is a new age, in a new time. Our margins are small in both chambers, and we have no luxury of complacency about that. We got to work together as a team, and so far, so good.