Amid tariff turmoil, House Republicans face critical moment for Trump’s agenda

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• Amna Nawaz:

  Well, today, Congress had its first full day back at work since the market sell-offs that ended last week and continued this week. For Republicans, that is just one pressing issue. They also face a critical moment for Trump's agenda on Capitol Hill.

  For more on how those in office see the tariffs and budget negotiations, our congressional correspondent, Lisa Desjardins, joins me now.

  Good to see you.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Hi.

• Amna Nawaz:

  So, start us off with just the temperature on Capitol Hill right now. When you talk to Republicans, are you hearing more concerns about some of the market upheaval we have seen from the tariffs?

• Lisa Desjardins:

  For Republicans, it's important to divide how they're reacting to the public reaction and the private reaction.

  There is some overlap. But, in general, in public, most Republicans are expressing support for the president, some expressing hope that this will work out very well. I spoke in particular to one moderate Republican who has a lot of trade in his district. That's Mario Diaz-Balart of Miami.

  He told me that he thinks in the end this is something that could be good. And I asked him, are you worried about the consequences of a global trade war?

• Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL):

  Yes, but the problem is that there's been a trade war on American consumers and American products from most of the world for decades upon decades.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  The idea here is that the America has needed to step up for a long time and try and get better trade agreements from around the world. The question, though, is that what Republicans are saying in public, those are ones who support Trump, but privately there are many who have really grave concerns about what's going on.

  I spoke to one Republican in a position of power who told me, quite frankly, this is insane, also believe the president, the way he's going about this, talking about trade deficits, is not a logical way to pursue the problems here.

  There is one Republican who spoke on camera and also on the record about these concerns. That's Don Bacon of Nebraska.

• Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE):

  I don't like the thought of waging a trade war with the entire world. And that's what we're doing right now. It's us against everybody.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Now, specifically, farmers are a concern. I talked to some, like South Dakota Congress — or Senator Mike Rounds, who said he is hearing from constituents that they're willing to give Trump a chance, but farmers are worried that Trump may not understand they have to pay for their machinery now.

  One other note, Democrats universally have a problem with how Trump is doing this, but there is some nuance here. I spoke to John Fetterman of Pennsylvania. He's someone who says maybe there's something in this, even though he sees mostly chaos.

• Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA):

  There's one thing that I absolutely do support, is going after China. And I think holding China accountable, I fully support that. But I will never understand why you want to punch our allies in the mouth over again and again and again.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  But, again, for Republicans, most cheering the president on publicly, some crossing their fingers and some looking away.

• Amna Nawaz:

  Meanwhile, Republicans, we know, are also trying to pass a different part of the Trump agenda, move forward with those sweeping tax cuts. They have to pass a budget to be able to do so.

  House Republicans may not have the votes to do so. Tell us about the latest.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  This is a huge moment. The Senate passed a budget framework, sent it to the House. The House has hoped and is hoping to pass it this week.

  However, as I speak to you right now, Amna, Speaker Mike Johnson does not have the votes to do that. One reason is that these hard-line conservatives are worried about the red ink in this bill, specifically some like Representative Chip Roy of Texas.

• Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX):

  So they're fine saying that they will — unlimited tax cuts, but they're unwilling to say that they will do spending cuts, which is phony math. The Senate has produced a budget that is phony math, and I'm not going to support it.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  I should be very clear, there's a real debate over what this budget reconciliation bill does. He's on the side that it doesn't do enough to cut spending. Others in the Senate say, no, it allows for potential spending cuts. But right now you see there just isn't the support in the House that it needs.

  It could shift to Thursday, but for right now, votes have been delayed.

• Amna Nawaz:

  So what happens next on this push for a budget plan?

• Lisa Desjardins:

  Timing matters quite a lot because the president had hoped to get this entire package, this step and the next step done by Memorial Day. Right now, they're not on that track, and if they lose momentum now, most people realize that the president's first year is the most powerful one.

  So there's a fear that if things don't get on track for this Trump agenda bill soon, that they could lose not just time, but important momentum for these big things.

• Amna Nawaz:

  Lisa Desjardins covering it all, thank you so much.

• Lisa Desjardins:

  You're welcome.