President Donald Trump has said he wants Congress to send a reconciliation package funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement to his desk by June 1, spurring a debate among Republicans about whether to expand the package to include other policy priorities.
The Senate’s process of reconciliation allows for the chamber to pass budget legislation with a simple majority vote, with limits on what can be included. Although Republican leadership has decided on a narrow bill to fund border security efforts, House conservatives fear the reconciliation package is their last chance to secure policy wins ahead of the midterm elections without needing Democrat support.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has said that the second bill must be as “narrow” as possible in order to meet Trump’s deadline.
“They’re gonna have to limit the scope,” said Rachel Bovard, Conservative Partnership Institute vice president, “because, if they open it up, it’ll become a Christmas tree.”
Leadership’s approach is likely to run into trouble with the conservative Freedom Caucus, which has several priorities for the second reconciliation bill: completely fund the Department of Homeland Security, defund Planned Parenthood, pass the SAVE America Act, and reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Speaker Mike Johnson has discussed the possibility of a third reconciliation package after that to accomplish other priorities.
Some conservatives say a third reconciliation bill could succeed if funding of the Iran operation is withheld until then, making its passage essentially mandatory. However, most of the caucus lacks confidence the Senate will succeed in passing a third bill with the other priorities included.
“This is the last train leaving the station,” Bovard said of the second reconciliation bill.
“I really need it all to be together,” Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., told The Daily Signal of an expanded package. “You can’t depend on the Senate on issues like declining Planned Parenthood and other pieces. I think it has to all be together.”
Unless the president asks for something different, Stutzman said Congress should follow the same map as the first successful reconciliation package, the One, Big Beautiful Bill.
The One Big, Beautiful Bill restricted Medicaid reimbursements for Planned Parenthood for one year, but that provision expires on July 4, 2026. A major priority for the pro-life movement is extending that policy so the abortion giant doesn’t get a renewed cash flow on America’s 250th birthday.
“The strategy of a second, big, beautiful bill is the way that I would see it getting across the finish line,” Stutzman said, “because I just don’t trust the Senate to keep the priorities in a third bill that would go over there.”
Bovard said Freedom Caucus members don’t have much incentive to support a narrow reconciliation bill without their desired provisions on voter ID, reforms to FISA, or defunding Planned Parenthood. However, she sees the potential for a deal with limited FISA reform being added into reconciliation 2.0.
“But right now, there’s nothing to come to the field for,” she said.
Stutzman fears the Senate’s failure to expand the reconciliation package could cost Republicans the midterms.
“My biggest fear is that the Senate is going to cost us the election in 2026 if they don’t pass some of this policy that our base is expecting us to pass,” he said. “Our voters are already deflated because they feel like we’re not doing what we said we were going to do all because of a filibuster rule.”
