Trump’s push for a third megabill faces a ‘long shot’ problem amid GOP skepticism
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President Donald Trump wants Congress to increase military spending and pass suspended voter ID and citizenship verification legislation at the same time, but many Republicans aren’t sold on the plan.
Trump on Wednesday urged Republicans in Congress to turn against Democrats and “immediately” pass a third budget reconciliation package, which includes $350 billion in defense spending in line with the Save America Voters Eligibility (SAVE) America Act.
“This is a GENERATIONAL Investment in our Military, even bigger than President Reagan’s! Recon 3.0 is the only way to the $1.5 TRILLION DOLLAR Military Budget our Warriors need to build an ARSENAL OF FREEDOM,” Trump said on Truth Social.
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President Donald Trump during the signing of the executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on June 3, 2026. (Shawn Thew/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The president’s request came hours after he signed the Republicans’ second budget reconciliation bill into law to fund immigration enforcement during his presidency with $70 billion. Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act was also passed through budget reconciliation.
But many Republicans are lukewarm on the idea of restarting the budget reconciliation process, which would require strong party unity amid a dwindling calendar of legislative days leading up to November’s midterm elections.
The GOP has yet to fully reach Trump’s $1.5 billion spending request, and some lawmakers have expressed concern about bypassing the normal appropriations process to boost defense spending.
Trump’s call for a third apple harvest comes as he and congressional Republicans are increasingly at odds over policy decisions that have made passage of legislation on the Hill more difficult.
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Some Republicans who pushed for a third attempt at the party process acknowledged that it was unlikely to work. In addition, Congress is unlikely to pass any more bills before the midterm elections in November due to Democratic opposition.
“I think it’s too long for anything to pass between now and mid-term,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La.,. “It gives me heartburn to say that, but I think that’s true in politics.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, RS.D., did not completely close the door on another reconciliation bill, but he noted that there is skepticism among Republicans about moving forward.
“You have to have something to win from,” said Thune. “And you have heard some of our people have expressed their views on another reconciliation bill.”
Earlier in the week, during a controversial Senate appropriations hearing, Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., both agreed that another reconciliation bill is unlikely, especially as a dumping ground for billions in additional defense spending.
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Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks to members of the media at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on June 10, 2026. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Collins, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, said, “Reconciliation is not the best way.”
“It would be very difficult to get a reconciliation bill passed,” said Collins.
Negotiations on a third reconciliation package were underway in the House before Trump publicly endorsed it. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., expressed confidence that his chamber will clear a third budget bill during the August recess.
But some GOP lawmakers questioned its effectiveness among the majority of minority Republicans and the lack of a unifying policy vision to keep Congress together.
“I haven’t heard enough policy proposals to make me think it’s going to work, but I’m open-minded,” said Rep. Nick Langworthy, RN.Y., told Fox News Digital on Wednesday.
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Rep. Kevin Kiley, Calif., a Republican who voted against Trump’s immigration enforcement action, has indicated that he will not support a third attempt.
“Now we’ve reached this trend where one party takes power, passes reconciliation bills and the other party does it, and the cycle has not been good,” the California attorney told Fox News Digital. “It’s one of the things that feeds the cycles of unemployment that we have here.”
