Republicans plotting immediate reaction to midterms wipeout

Senate Majority Leader John Thune speaks to the media after a Senate Republican meeting to vote on leadership positions for the 119th Congress, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., November 13, 2024. REUTERS/Leah Millis

Republicans are plotting their immediate moves in Congress after the midterms, according to The Hill, putting together a plan to pass their usual spending cuts and defense bills in the aftermath of a blue wave wipeout.

According to a Wednesday morning report from The Hill, President Donald Trump's Senate Republican allies "are laying the groundwork for substantial cuts to federal spending in the postelection, lame-duck Congress," looking to shed substantial amounts of federal spending before Democrats take office in January. This would also be meant to offset "billions" of dollars in new funding for Trump's Iran War.

"Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) announced Tuesday that the Senate will not consider another budget resolution to unlock the reconciliation process to circumvent a Democratic filibuster until after the Nov. 3 election," the report detailed. "He said he would prefer to pass emergency defense funding to help cover the costs of the Iran war and a boost to the Pentagon’s base budget through the regular appropriations process. But Thune acknowledged that Republicans will work on a third budget reconciliation package if necessary to get around a potential Democratic filibuster."

Republicans will also look to raise the U.S. debt limit by about $5 trillion, which would keep the country's borrowing authority stable throughout the rest of Trump's second term, negating the possibility of another caustic fight over raising it with Democrats in power.

"Any increase in the debt limit before the end of this year would need to be done through the budget reconciliation process to avoid a Democratic filibuster in the Senate, but getting 51 votes for the proposal in the Senate and 218 votes in the House won’t be an easy task," The Hill added.

“I’ve had a variety of conversations,” Sen. Rick Scott, a Florida Republican, told the outlet. “Inflation is a problem. We all understand the cost of living is a problem. The only way we’re going to get the cost of living down is if we balance the budget... Whatever we spend, we’ve got to pay for it. If we’re going to talk about debt ceiling, we’re going to have to figure out how we’re going to get spending under control or we’re not going to see lower interest rates, we’re not going to see inflation go away.”

Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, suggested that he would need to see substantial spending changes in exchange for his support on raising the debt limit.

“I wouldn’t vote to raise the debt ceiling unless we significantly reformed how we spend money,” Paul said. “That would have to include sending it to the Finance Committee, it would have to include instructions to actually reduce spending. There are several Medicaid reforms that could occur, that didn’t occur [last year], that could actually reduce spending.”

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