DORAL, Fla. — House Republicans brimmed with optimism after President Donald Trump’s speech at their annual retreat on Monday evening, where the new commander in chief detailed his policy goals for a busy first 100 days of the new administration.
Trump’s speech, which ran just over an hour, covered a wide range of issues, from post-election unity to his wishlist for Republicans’ conservative policy overhaul via the budget reconciliation process.
‘It was fun, you know? I mean, if you’re a Republican, Trump made politics fun again,’ House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole, R-Okla., told Fox News Digital. ‘I mean, it’s been an extraordinary week. There’s a blizzard of executive orders and actions. It’s actually pushed Congress on some action.’
Rep. Mike Haridopolos, R-Fla., a first-term member of Congress, was buoyant when approached by Fox News Digital on the first night of his first House GOP issues conference, an annual Republican event.
‘This is exactly why we ran for office, to turn around this country as quickly as possible. And that the president was in full form tonight. And I’m so excited to be a part of this change,’ Haridopolos said. ‘You could feel the energy in the room, and I think people are very excited to get this agenda through, and more importantly see the results.’
It comes as Republicans negotiate on how to use their razor-thin majorities in the House and Senate to pass massive conservative policy changes through budget reconciliation.
By reducing the threshold for Senate passage from 60 votes to a 51-seat simple majority, reconciliation allows a party in control of both congressional chambers to enact sweeping changes, provided they’re relevant to budgetary and fiscal policy.
There has been some disagreement for weeks over how to package the GOP’s priorities, however. Senate Republicans have pushed for breaking the package up into two bills in order to score early victories on border security and energy policy while leaving the more complex issue of tax reform for a second bill.
House Republican leaders, however, are concerned that the heavy political lift that passing a reconciliation bill entails would mean lawmakers run out of time before they can extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, which expire at the end of this year.
Trump, who previously said he favors ‘one big beautiful bill,’ was noncommittal on the strategy during his speech.
‘Whether it’s one bill, two bills, I don’t care,’ he said.
He was more specific about what policies he wanted to see passed, however, including more funding for border security, permanently extending his 2017 tax cuts and ending taxation for tips, Social Security benefits and overtime pay. Trump also has vowed to end green energy policies in favor of bolstering the fossil fuel sector.
Cole said he was concerned about the increase in federal spending that some of Trump’s specific policy goals would entail, but he conceded the president was likely speaking in generalities.
‘I think Trump, when he thinks about these things, he’s thinking about just the average person and what a burden it is on them,’ Cole said.
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., one of three House Republicans who won in a district that voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris in November, praised Trump’s speech as ‘unifying’ but shared concerns with Trump’s broad-brush approach.
‘I thought that message is pretty unifying. I do. I think sometimes the execution gets all messy,’ Bacon said.
‘While I was in there, I had a businessman from Omaha that does wind energy, and he’s worried about what that means. So I think it … could be a little more targeted. Sometimes I think people on the periphery are scared that their business will be impacted.’
But National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Richard Hudson, R-N.C., who is tasked with leading Republicans through the 2026 midterm elections, said leaders would hash out specifics as needed while crediting Trump with bringing the GOP together.
‘We’ll see how the details shake out in these couple of days. But what I thought was great is he kept coming back to his theme: If all Republicans stick together, we can be successful. And I thought that was a good message for all members,’ Hudson said.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., said she was ‘very happy to hear’ Trump call for a lower tax rate for new domestic manufacturing, particularly in relation to pharmaceuticals.
It’s an issue she hopes Republicans will tackle in their reconciliation process.
‘It was important that President Trump stressed unity as we enter the timeframe for drafting and passing reconciliation, extending the tax package,’ Malliotakis said.
And Rep. Nathaniel Moran, R-Texas, also praised Trump’s speech while dismissing concerns about his lack of commitment toward a one- or two-reconciliation bill strategy.
‘He’s a results-oriented guy, and we all know that. And what we need to do is whatever is necessary to get the results for the American people and put his policies in place,’ Moran said.