Trump and Johnson strategize as budget reconciliation reaches 'game time'
House Speaker Mike Johnson met with President Donald Trump Monday afternoon in the Oval Office, where they huddled over the GOP's political strategy heading into a pivotal period of legislative business -- with their congressional majorities on the line.
As Congress returns to Washington following a two-week recess and the president approaches 100 days in office, Republicans hope to sharply reshape federal spending to align with the president's domestic agenda.
After meeting with the president, Johnson returned to the Capitol to meet with top administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and leading congressional Republicans grappling over budget reconciliation.
"We're working on the big, beautiful bill, the reconciliation bill," Johnson told reporters. "Now is game time as the big developments will be coming together. We're excited about that. I think it's going to be a great piece of legislation."
Flanked by White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett and James Blair, assistant to the president, Bessent told reporters after the meeting on Monday that he found “great unity” among congressional Republican leaders, with the House and Senate moving quickly and "in lockstep" on a budget bill focused on Trump’s priorities.
The meeting included Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Johnson, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith.
“We think that they are in a substantial agreement, and that this is going to be a win for the American people. Very-pro growth,” Bessent continued.
He said there were “three legs” to the president's economic agenda: trade, tax and deregulation. He said they hoped to get the tax portion of the budget package done by July 4.
“Both sides have proposals in front of the President, and we think there's a path to deliver the requisite spending reforms to get a great pro-growth tax package, along with the president's priorities that he laid out on the campaign trail,” Bessent said.
Hassett reiterated Trump’s claim that a billionaire tax cut is off the table. Bessent said priorities for the package would be to make tax cuts and the Jobs Act permanent, no tax on tips, no tax on Social Security, no tax on overtime, and deductibility for loans for American-made cars.
Asked if Bessent's July 4 timeline was realistic, Thune said, "I think so. You know, I mean, it's, it all depends on how progress goes in the next few weeks."
"I think we, everybody, feels like we're making significant progress in trying to get the House, the Senate and the White House, kind of in the same place. But it's going to take time. It's complicated -- a lot of moving parts," Thune said.
Republicans have begun releasing legislative text to codify their lofty ambitions to cut at least $2 trillion from federal spending over the next decade, with six markups scheduled this week and additional hearings anticipated in the coming weeks as conservatives face the latest test of their narrow majority.
"It's going to solve a lot of problems," Johnson predicted. "It's going to be a turbo-boost for the economy, and we're looking forward to getting that done."
But as Trump reaches his 100th day in office this week, polling shows the public souring on the president's job performance. Nevertheless, Johnson maintains the belief that the GOP is poised to defend its narrow majority -- claiming Republicans "are playing offense."
"We talked about the upcoming races, the midterm elections and we're very bullish on it," Johnson proclaimed. "There's 13 Democrats sitting in districts that President Trump won. Those are the obvious targets. We have an offensive map. There's only three House Republicans sitting in districts that Kamala Harris won. So it's a lopsided map, it gives us a great opportunity and we're going to go make history."
Still, Johnson acknowledged there have been some ups and downs in the early stages of the administration.
"These presidential terms are roller-coaster sometimes. There's been a little tumult in the markets with the tariff policy and all of that, but I think this is settling out," Johnson said. "People are in very good spirits. They understand that this is a long game to be played."
-ABC News' Isabella Murray contributed to this report.
