Republicans are in damage control mode as President Donald Trump’s agenda starts to unravel, with one GOP lawmaker warning it’s turning into a “train wreck.”
“We can’t really get on the same page,” one GOP senator said. “I’m worried that this is potentially a train wreck.”
That blunt warning came after a closed-door Senate GOP retreat Wednesday at the Library of Congress. Lawmakers are trying to rescue Trump’s agenda — a sweeping package that includes tax cuts, border security, and massive spending cuts — before it collapses under its own weight.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) had promised a “big, beautiful bill” by Memorial Day. That’s not happening. Now there’s concern it won’t even make it by July 4 — the deadline set by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
The House and Senate are on “separate tracks,” a Republican senator admitted to The Hill. “Sooner or later we have to pass the same thing.”
The split between hardline conservatives and party moderates is getting worse. Conservatives want deep spending cuts. Moderates are pushing back, especially against slashing programs like Medicaid and food stamps.
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said this mess could have been avoided. “I’m trying to resist saying, ‘I told you so,’” he said. “Part of the problem … is that this great big, beautiful bill is very, very complicated.”
“It should be law right now,” Cramer added. “There’s some frustration that we’re doing the big, beautiful bill thing and that’s probably getting away a little bit. It’s too much — it might be too much.”
Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) had pitched a simpler strategy months ago: split Trump’s priorities into two separate bills. Some GOP senators now regret not taking that advice.
One person at the retreat said Thune vented his frustration over how slow the House is moving and how hard it’s been to find spending cuts that can get enough votes.
The biggest fight is over how to pay for the tax package. Some Republicans say extending Trump’s 2017 tax cuts will raise $2.5 trillion through growth. Others say that’s fantasy — and they won’t back anything that adds to the deficit.
“The deficit reduction target must be met with real, enforceable spending cuts — not budget gimmicks,” 30 House Republicans warned in a letter to GOP leadership.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) is among the conservatives demanding brutal cuts. He mocked the current goal of cutting $1.5 trillion over 10 years. “That’s a joke,” he said. “At most, we should be looking at $6.5 trillion” in total federal spending.
Other Senate conservatives agree, including Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah). They want to cut more than $700 billion from the federal budget, which would hit everything from health care to food aid.
But Speaker Johnson has ruled out some of the deepest cuts — like slashing how much the federal government pays states for Medicaid expansion. That move pleased some moderates.
“The House has said that they’re not going to do the FMAP [cuts], which is good,” said Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.). “I think that’s a good trend, because I don’t want to see any Medicaid benefit cuts.”
Still, the broader outlook remains grim. There’s no agreement on spending. No agreement on taxes. And no clear path to unite the two chambers.
“There are 535 chefs,” one senator said, summing up the chaos.
