WASHINGTON, Jan 6, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - The speaker of the US House said Sunday 
he was pushing an "aggressive" timeframe for getting a multi-trillion-dollar 
bill addressing immigration, tax cuts and more to Donald Trump's desk by 
April, within his first 100 days in office.

Speaker Mike Johnson and fellow congressional Republicans are eager to help 
the incoming president enact his campaign promises, including unprecedented 
border security spending, business deregulation, boosting energy production 
and raising the US debt ceiling.

But with a new razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives and 
similarly tight Senate margins, Democratic opposition could stymie the 
efforts.

Johnson said he has strategized with Trump about combining several priorities 
into one gigantic piece of legislation that could move through Congress under 
rules of so-called reconciliation.

Such a tool allows budget-related bills to clear the 100-member Senate with a 
simple majority, rather than a typical 60-vote threshold.

"We can put it all together, one big up-or-down vote, which can save the 
country, quite literally, because there are so many elements to it," Johnson 
told Fox News.

"That's why we're going to be so aggressive about getting this through in the 
first 100 days," he said.

Johnson said he aimed to have an initial House vote on the bill as early as 
April 3. He envisioned it then clearing the Senate and being signed into law 
by the month's end.

According to Johnson, the bill would include funding for securing the US-
Mexico border and deporting undocumented immigrants.

Trump focused much of his 2024 presidential campaign on immigration and, 
after his victory in November, said he could use the military to deport 
millions of people.

"Members of Congress are getting to work on one powerful Bill that will bring 
our Country back, and make it greater than ever before," Trump posted on his 
Truth Social platform Sunday evening.

Johnson also said the mega-bill would "restore American energy dominance," 
extend tax cuts enacted during Trump's first term and slash red tape "that 
has smothered our free market."

He also pledged to include a provision extending US borrowing authority.

The United States routinely runs up against a legal constraint on paying for 
bills already incurred, and Congress is called upon to either formally raise 
the so-called debt ceiling or suspend it.

A suspension of the debt limit reached by lawmakers in 2023 has since ended, 
and the country is expected to tackle the issue again this year, possibly by 
June.

During December budget negotiations in Congress, Trump insisted the debt 
ceiling be raised or even eliminated altogether, but he was unsuccessful.

Johnson on Fox defended the apparent paradox of wanting to increase the limit 
on government borrowing while boasting of seeking to reduce the deficit.

"We're the team that wants to cut spending," he said. "But you have to raise 
the debt limit on paper so that we don't frighten the bond markets and the 
world's economy."

Trump meanwhile called for even bigger tax cuts, including repeating a 
campaign pledge to end tax on tips.

"NO TAX ON TIPS. IT WILL ALL BE MADE UP WITH TARIFFS, AND MUCH MORE, FROM 
COUNTRIES THAT HAVE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF THE U.S. FOR YEARS," he said on Truth 
Social.