Trump meets with congressional Republicans as GOP lawmakers argue over tax and spending cuts

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump hosted an unusually long meeting with House Republicans at the White House on Thursday, turning over prime workspace for them to hammer out differences over the size, scope and details of their multitrillion-dollar plan to cut taxes, regulations and government spending.

Trump set the tone at the start of the nearly five-hour session, lawmakers said, then left them alone for a meeting that ran so long that Speaker Mike Johnson missed his own one-on-one at the U.S. Capitol with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who instead met with Democratic leaders and other lawmakers as the speaker's office scrambled to reschedule.

“Very positive developments today,” Johnson said once he returned to the Capitol. "We’re really grateful to the president for leaning in and doing what he does best, and that is put a steady hand at the wheel and get everybody working.”

House and Senate GOP leaders have been desperately looking to Trump for direction on how to proceed on their budget bill, but so far the president has been noncommittal about the details — only pushing Congress for results. Trump’s message to them Thursday: Get it done.

The standoff is creating frustration for Republicans as precious time is slipping and they fail to make progress on what has been their top priority with their party in control in Washington. At the same time, congressional phone lines are being swamped with callers protesting Trump's cost-cutting efforts led by billionaire Elon Musk against federal programs, services and operations.

House Republicans planned to meet into the night at the Capitol to wrap up agreement on a package they could announce before lawmakers leave town Friday.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters the president and lawmakers were discussing “tax priorities of the Trump administration,” including Trump's promises to end federal taxation of tips, Social Security benefits and overtime pay. Renewing tax cuts Trump enacted in 2017 also was on the agenda, she said.

“The president is committed to working with Congress to get this done,” Leavitt said.

Johnson, despite the slimmest of majorities, has insisted Republicans will stay unified and on track to deliver on his goal of House passage of the legislation by April.

The chair of the House Budget Committee, Texas Rep. Jodey Arrington, returned from the meeting saying his panel will hold hearings on the package next week.

“The heat was on medium the whole time,” Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., the chair of the House GOP conference, said after the meeting, which she said was “spirited” at times.

The group stayed so long debating in the Cabinet Room at the White House they were served turkey-bacon sandwiches. If the House Republicans’ initial meeting with Trump at the White House last month was a good first date, this one was “whether we want kids or not,” McClain said.

But as Johnson's timeline slips — the House was hoping to start budget hearings this week — the Senate is making moves to take charge. GOP senators are heading to Trump's private Mar-a-Lago club on Friday for their own meeting.

Republicans led by Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota have proposed a two-step approach, starting with a smaller bill that would include money for Trump’s U.S.-Mexico border wall and deportation plans, among other priorities. They would later pursue the more robust package of tax break extensions before a year-end deadline.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, announced late Wednesday that he was pushing ahead next week with hearings to kickstart the process.

The dueling approaches between the House and Senate are becoming something of a race to see which chamber will make the most progress toward the GOP's overall goals.

The House GOP largely wants what Trump has called a “big, beautiful bill” that would extend some $3 trillion in tax cuts that expire at the end of the year, and include a list of other GOP priorities, including funding for the president's mass deportation effort and border wall. It include massive cuts from a menu of government programs — from health care to food assistance — to help offset the tax cuts.

The smaller bill Graham is proposing would total some $300 billion and include border money and a boost in defense spending, largely paid for with a rollback of Biden-era green energy programs.

Graham, R-S.C., said that would give the Trump administration the money it needs to "finish the wall, hire ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents to deport criminal illegal immigrants.”

“This will be the most transformational border security bill in the history of our country,” Graham said.

House Republicans are deeply split over Graham’s approach. But they are also at odds over their own ideas.

House GOP leaders are proposing cuts that would bring $1 trillion in savings over the decade, lawmakers said, but members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus want at least double that amount.

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said he’s looking for $2.5 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years, or $250 billion annually, as part of that plan, compared to a $1 trillion floor over 10 years that some in GOP leadership have discussed.

Roy and other members of the Freedom Caucus are interested in Graham's approach, which is seen as a down payment on Trump's immigration and deportation plans, while the party continues work on the broader tax and spending cuts package.

But Arrington, the House Budget Committee chair, has previously said the $2.5 trillion in spending reductions was a “stretch goal.”

Johnson, R-La., needs almost complete unanimity from his ranks to pass any bill over objections from Democrats. In the Senate, Republicans have a 53-47 majority, with little room for dissent.

Trump has repeatedly said he is less wed to the process used in Congress than the outcome of achieving his policy goals.

President Donald Trump talks to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., left and and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., right, after he spoke to the National Prayer Breakfast, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks with reporters to discuss the Trump agenda following a closed-door strategy session, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks during the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing for Kash Patel, President Donald Trump's choice to be director of the FBI, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

FILE - The White House is seen, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City Council employee was arrested in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, enraging city officials and drawing protesters Tuesday to the Manhattan detention center where he was being held.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Rafael Andres Rubio Bohorquez had long overstayed a tourist visa, had once been arrested for assault, and “had no legal right to be in the United States.”

City Council Speaker Julie Menin disputed that, telling reporters that Rubio Bohorquez, a data analyst for the city legislative body, was legally authorized to work in the U.S. until October.

Menin, a Democrat, said the council employee signed a document as part of his employment confirming that he had never been arrested and cleared the standard background check conducted for all applicants.

The New York Immigration Coalition and New York Legal Assistance Group filed a petition after Rubio Bohorquez's arrest Monday asking a court to order his release, Menin and Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., said in a statement.

ICE confirmed Rubio Bohorquez’s name. Menin and Goldman referred to him only as a council employee. She said she was doing so to protect his identity.

“We are doing everything we can to secure his immediate release,” Menin said at a Monday evening news conference. She decried the arrest as “egregious government overreach.”

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democrat, said he was “outraged” by what he called “an assault on our democracy, on our city, and our values.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, also a Democrat, said: “This is exactly what happens when immigration enforcement is weaponized.” Detaining people during routine appearances “doesn’t make us safer. It erodes trust, spreads fear, and violates basic principles of fairness,” she said.

Menin said officials were attempting to reach Rubio Bohorquez’s family and obtain contact information for his immigration lawyer.

Rubio Bohorquez, originally from Venezuela, was detained at an immigration appointment in Bethpage, on Long Island, authorities said. Menin called it a regular check-in that “quickly went awry.”

“This staffer, who chose to work for the city and contribute his expertise to the community, did everything right by appearing at a scheduled interview, and yet ICE unlawfully detained him,” Lisa Rivera, the president and CEO of New York Legal Assistance Group, said in a statement.

Rivera said the organization represents dozens of people who have been wrongfully detained by ICE and hundreds who are following immigration procedures in hopes of staying in the U.S.

According to ICE, Rubio Bohorquez entered the U.S. in 2017 on a B2 tourist visa and was required to leave the country by Oct. 22, 2017. He has been employed by the City Council for about a year, Menin said. His position pays about $129,315 per year, according to city payroll data.

“He had no work authorization,” ICE said in a statement confirming Rubio Bohorquez’s arrest. The agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security, said that under Secretary Kristi Noem “criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the United States. If you come to our country illegally and break our law, we will find you and we will arrest you.”

Several dozen people protested Tuesday outside the Greater New York Federal Building, where Rubio Bohorquez was being held. Some carried signs that said “Abolish ICE” and “No Human Is Illegal.”

Disputes over an immigrant’s work authorization have arisen before, in part because many employers rely on a robust but flawed government system called E-Verify. The tool compares information entered by an employer from an employee’s documents with records available to Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration.

Experts say the system is generally accurate in terms of matching documents, but it doesn’t automatically notify an employer if an employee’s right to work is revoked after it has already been verified.

A 2021 Inspector General review concluded that until the government addresses E-Verify’s shortcomings, “it cannot ensure the system provides accurate employment eligibility results.”

Matthew Malloy, Executive Board Member with the Association of Legislative Employees, speaks during a news conference outside Greater New York Federal Building, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Alexa Avilés, New York City Council member, speaks during a news conference outside Greater New York Federal Building, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Chi Ossé, New York City Council member, speaks during a news conference outside Greater New York Federal Building, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Carlos Calzadilla, President of Brooklyn Young Democrats, speaks during a news conference outside Greater New York Federal Building, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

People raise signs during a news conference outside Greater New York Federal Building, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)