DORAL, Florida — House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) remains optimistic that a second Republican megabill can be passed before the November midterm elections, even as top lieutenants are saying it is unlikely to happen.
“It will not be as big, but it can be just as beautiful,” the speaker told reporters at a fireside chat at the House GOP’s issues conference at the Trump National Doral hotel.
Johnson was responding to comments made by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) less than an hour before the fireside chat. The Missouri Republican told reporters he does not “think it will ever happen” when asked about the likelihood of a second reconciliation bill.
“If you look at history, it is extremely rare for two partisan reconciliation bills to ever pass in the same Congress, extremely rare,” Smith said. “And so I would absolutely love a second reconciliation bill. I would love that, but I just don’t think it will ever happen.”
Johnson told reporters he acknowledged the doubts but thought a deal could still be fashioned.
“I’m a little more optimistic that Jason Smith … but I’ve encouraged him, encouraged all our colleagues, ‘Look, let’s be realistic,’” Johnson said.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act took seven months to be signed into law, and that was back when the House GOP had a three-seat majority. Now, Johnson has a one-seat margin, meaning passing any sweeping bill will be almost impossible, given that Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) is all but assured to be a “no” vote.
Johnson said he has a whiteboard that includes seven “primary caucuses” and he is working on a Venn diagram “to see where all those circles join in the middle and what those small subset of issues are where we can literally hit every Republican vote, because that’s what’s required.”
Despite the difficulties, Johnson said reconciliation is “still a priority for the leadership team, certainly for me.” He said to “stay tuned” on specifics on what could go into a reconciliation bill, noting that he has three pages of possible policies and he’s looking to whittle them down based on what does not have a “100% buy-in.”
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He added that division between the parties over Department of Homeland Security funding and other policy areas “doesn’t bode well for bipartisan legislation going forward.”
“So I’m a realist,” the speaker said. “I understand, really, the only tool we have in the toolbox to do something that’s very important, Democrats may not be willing to go along with even if it benefits every single American citizen, I don’t think they’ll do it. And so we can’t take reconciliation off the table.”