‘We need a plan’: GOP gets ‘early reality check’ on Trump’s erratic decision making

President-elect Donald Trump has been sending mixed signals to allies when it comes to his preferred strategy for passing his priority legislation in the coming weeks.Politico reported Tuesday that while Trump gave indications that he supported House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) strategy of putting everything into one large budget reconciliation package, he appeared to walk that back during an interview with right-wing talk show host Hugh Hewitt, and said he’d be open to other approaches.As Politico wrote, this incident provides “an early reality check heading into a second Trump term” given that “the returning president’s decision-making isn’t exactly reliable, raising the risk that Republicans who presume to know what he wants might soon find themselves crosswise with his actual wishes.”ALSO READ: ‘Lawyer up buddy’: MAGA attorney threatens Trump judge – and tells him to ‘go to Hell’Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID), for one, emphasized to Politico that Trump simply saying he’s fine with any approach isn’t going to cut it.“I’ve heard the president say that he’s now on the ‘one’ side, but he doesn’t oppose the ‘two’ side,” he said. “We still need a plan.”Republican senators are also insisting that the House take the lead in this case on the grounds that they need to see if Johnson can actually cobble together 218 votes to pass anything.”This is going to start in the House, because we’re going to be focused on nominations,” said Sen. John Curtis (R-UT). “On the other hand, if they can’t get it done, then we’ll take a look at another way.”Democrats, for their part, appear ready to simply sit back and watch the process unfold.“Good luck,” Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) told Politico. “I think that Donald Trump agrees with whoever he speaks with last, so that’s why you have the ‘one bill, two bills’ [debate]. … If you don’t know if you’re gonna go for one package or two, you can’t really start negotiations.”

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