House Speaker Mike Johnson met with President Donald Trump Monday afternoon in the Oval Office, where they huddled over the GOP’s political strategy heading into a pivotal period of legislative business — with their congressional majorities on the line.
As Congress returns to Washington following a two-week recess and the president approaches 100 days in office, Republicans hope to sharply reshape federal spending to align with the president’s domestic agenda.
After meeting with the president, Johnson returned to the Capitol to meet with top administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and leading congressional Republicans grappling over budget reconciliation.
“We’re working on the big, beautiful bill, the reconciliation bill,” Johnson told reporters. “Now is game time as the big developments will be coming together. We’re excited about that. I think it’s going to be a great piece of legislation.”
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson talks to reporters just after House Republicans approved their budget framework that is central to President Donald Trump’s agenda, at the Capitol in Washington, April 10, 2025.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Republicans have begun releasing legislative text to codify their lofty ambitions to cut at least $2 trillion from federal spending over the next decade, with six markups scheduled this week and additional hearings anticipated in the coming weeks as conservatives face the latest test of their narrow majority.
“It’s going to solve a lot of problems,” Johnson predicted. “It’s going to be a turbo-boost for the economy, and we’re looking forward to getting that done.”
But as Trump reaches his 100th day in office this week, polling shows the public souring on the president’s job performance. Nevertheless, Johnson maintains the belief that the GOP is poised to defend its narrow majority — claiming Republicans “are playing offense.”
“We talked about the upcoming races, the midterm elections and we’re very bullish on it,” Johnson proclaimed. “There’s 13 Democrats sitting in districts that President Trump won. Those are the obvious targets. We have an offensive map. There’s only three House Republicans sitting in districts that Kamala Harris won. So it’s a lopsided map, it gives us a great opportunity and we’re going to go make history.”
Still, Johnson acknowledged there have been some ups and downs in the early stages of the administration.
“These presidential terms are roller-coaster sometimes. There’s been a little tumult in the markets with the tariff policy and all of that, but I think this is settling out,” Johnson said. “People are in very good spirits. They understand that this is a long game to be played.”
