Twin deadlines crash down on Mike Johnson
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Two deadlines are threatening to scuttle Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) precious plan for one, big budget bill.
Why it matters: President Trump's Friday night dinner with senators at Mar-a-Lago is the soft deadline. Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-S.C.) plan to move his own bill next week is the hard one.
- Miss the first deadline, House Republicans fear, and the Senate will exploit their quality time with Trump to convince him of their two-bill approach.
- Blow past the second one, and the Senate will be firmly in control of the process.
- There's a real risk that "we're going to get jammed by the Senate," Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) told Axios on Wednesday at an Axios News Shapers event.
Between the lines: "I'm going to talk to Lindsey. He's a good friend. And he has to understand the reality of the House," Johnson told reporters Wednesday.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent paid his first official visit to Johnson Wednesday afternoon, huddling with Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) on the best way to turn the president's campaign promises into reality.
- Republicans later went to the White House to applaud Trump for signing an executive order to ban transgender girls and women from female sports.
- Some members were hopeful that Trump might be able to use a pull-aside meeting to help grease a deal, but they returned to the Capitol empty-handed.
The intrigue: Graham didn't provide a specific day for his budget committee markup next week. That gives Johnson and Co. a little more flexibility.
- Some Republicans are privately discussing the prospect of voting against the Senate budget resolution if they send one over before the House reaches a compromise.
- That would add another dimension of dysfunction and call into question Congress's ability to pass any of Trump's agenda with their thin margins.
The bottom line: The House Budget Committee remains at an impasse with Chair Jodey Arrington unable to pass a resolution out of his panel.
- "I don't believe we're going to take the vote on the budget resolution this week," McClain predicted.
