Republicans navigate post-victory agenda after Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' becomes law

What do they do now?

There are always subjects on which the GOP wants to focus and legislate. But after approving the hallmark of President Trump's legislative agenda, there are frankly not a lot of other big items rolling down the parliamentary pike.

But we'll focus on a few that are important to the GOP - and could make headlines.

Cutting public broadcasting? Especially in rural areas?

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., who represents a sprawling state which still relies on radio in places, indicated that he'd like to see some changes to the rescissions package, especially in light of the flooding in Texas.

"Looking at radio stations in some of the rural areas that do a lot of emergency services," said Rounds.

So Schumer and several Democrats voted to assist the GOP overcome a filibuster - and keep the government lights burning.

Democrats railed against Schumer for essentially helping bail out Republicans and getting nothing in return. Some called on him to step aside. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and other Democrats seethed at Schumer's maneuver.

Schumer can probably only go to that well once. One wonders what Schumer could possibly extract from Republicans and President Trump - who aren't exactly ready to deal - even though they lack the votes to fund the government themselves.

Moreover, it's unclear if a government funding measure of any sort can even make it through the House with just GOP votes.

Johnson managed to advance some spending bills last year, but the path to doing all 12 spending bills before the Oct. 1 deadline is narrowing. The House Appropriations Committee has readied several spending packages through the spring and early summer, but none are ready for the floor.

What's the magic potion for funding the government on time this year?

Well, the question is whether Johnson can again keep his coalition together and convince conservatives to approve yet another interim spending measure. And, since it's about the math, they absolutely must have assistance from Schumer and Senate Democrats to avoid a filibuster yet again.

Some of this will boil down to what President Trump wants. The easy path is simply re-upping the old Biden/Democrats' money (again) for a short period and then hammering out a broader spending pact later in the fall or before Christmas. But that doesn't change the numbers in the House and Senate.

And guess what? They have to do this all again by Oct. 1, 2026.

There are also expectations - and some promises - of GOP leaders advancing another "reconciliation" package full of items they weren't able to stuff into the Big, Beautiful Bill. A "reconciliation" measure must deal with fiscal issues - not policy. It must also not add to the deficit over a decade.

In fact, the Senate's initial budgetary framework - adopted in February - focused on the border and military.

What else is at stake?

Well, Republicans are simultaneously looking backwards - and forwards.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., is conducting an inquiry into what former Biden officials knew about the cognitive state of the former president. Republicans want to prevent future presidents from relying on staff if they are potentially out of it. The GOP wants to construct legislative remedies to address a potential future executive who can't handle the job.

But we've been down this road before. Edith Wilson practically acted as president after Woodrow Wilson suffered a stroke.

The press corps was complicit in hiding the physical condition of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1930s and 1940s.

Addressing a future impaired executive is a worthy exercise, but gazing backwards may be problematic for the GOP. Republicans don't really have a good Democratic foil right now. Biden provides that. And so while the GOP focused on investigating the Bidens in 2023 and 2024, they're going back to the same well again. It also doesn't hurt Republicans politically to find out what former Vice President Kamala Harris knew. Same with former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Both are flirting with a 2028 presidential bid.

This comprises much of the agenda for lawmakers over the coming months. The midterms will be here soon enough. Most anything else will likely pale in comparison to the Big, Beautiful Bill. And with the touchstone of President Trump's agenda now signed into law, Democrats are now determining how to weaponize it against Republicans in the fall of 2026.

Most of the legislative agenda is in the books.

So what do they do now?

Campaign.