House Freedom Caucus urges rapid action on new reconciliation package

The conservative House Freedom Caucus sent a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) on Monday urging them to push through a third reconciliation package and other GOP legislative priorities before Democrats assume control of Congress next year.

The caucus wrote in their letter that there is “an enormous amount of unfinished business to preserve and protect the Republic from an incoming majority party hell-bent on radically changing it.”

“We must deny them every legislative leverage point possible,” the caucus wrote.

The caucus is calling for a reconciliation package that includes defense modernization, tax relief for families and at least $1 trillion in spending cuts. Other priorities outlined in the letter include codifying President Trump’s border security policies, imposing congressional term limits, banning stock trading by lawmakers and confirming “as many Presidential nominees as possible” in the Senate.

Lawmakers are in session for only five more weeks until the new Congress takes over in January. The next few weeks are already consumed by leadership elections across both chambers.

Passing another reconciliation bill will also be a heavy lift. The House had passed a budget resolution for a third bill back in July that includes $73 billion for defense and intelligence funding, $12 billion for agriculture aid and $10 billion for a fund to encourage Trump-backed voting restrictions. But the resolution had been stalled in the Senate after fiscal hawk conservatives aired concerns about the lack of offsets in the package.

“Some of us called for action after our first reconciliation package to continue to move to support the American people. Unfortunately, that agenda stalled, and now we will no longer have the majority in the next Congress. We respectfully request that we take action in the next 60 days to protect the citizens we represent,” the caucus wrote, adding that lawmakers should not leave town until the objectives outlined in the letter are accomplished.

“Every one of us – including those leaving Congress on January 3rd – should be committed to finishing the job,” they added.