Graham in January. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Sen. Lindsey Graham's move to craft his own budget resolution for reconciliation puts another piece on the energy policy chessboard.
Why it matters: The Senate moving first could shuffle around how energy is used to pay for new spending and tax cuts and ultimately impact which parts of the IRA get repealed.
Catch up quick: Graham, the Senate Budget chair, says he'll mark up a resolution next week to start on the Senate's two-bill reconciliation strategy while the House struggles with its own one-bill path.
- He wants to allocate roughly $150 billion for border policy and another $150 billion to defense over four years, he told reporters Wednesday.
- Graham also says he wants to address energy. Expanded oil and gas leasing, among other things, could end up as a payfor.
- "The committees are already working on it. There's a lot of good payfors out there," he said.
What we're watching: Republicans are grappling with just how much money they'll be able to pull out of oil and gas leasing.
- "I think our resources are much more valuable than CBO thinks they are," House Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman told reporters. "But we haven't got anything official back from them yet."
- Westerman also didn't seem to mind the Senate's plan: "That's good to get more ideas out on the table and we can compare notes."
What's next: Trump has a dinner scheduled with GOP senators Friday at Mar-a-Lago, which House Republicans view as a soft deadline to get moving on their one-bill plan, Axios' Hans Nichols reports.
- Trump also met with House Republicans on Thursday morning.
