House Agenda Includes Extending Tax Cuts, Scalise Says

November 6, 2024

Dear Colleague —

What a historic night! Donald J. Trump won an electoral college landslide as well as the popular vote. Voters also appear to have handed Republicans unified control of Washington, with our Conference expected to hold our House majority. Clearly, the American people have given us a mandate. We have two years to make America prosperous and secure again. Thankfully, our Republican Conference has spent the last two years preparing for this moment. We methodically laid out a road map — passing key aspects of Trump's bold agenda to clearly show how we would govern if given this historic opportunity. Now, we need a Majority Leader who knows how to take that road map and, under President Trump's leadership, implement a bold, conservative Republican agenda. I am running to continue the work I started as Majority Leader, and I humbly ask for your support.

First 100-Day Agenda. There is much President Trump can do through executive action to provide immediate relief. He can secure the border by ending catch and release, reinstating Remain in Mexico and stopping the current flagrant abuses of the asylum and parole programs. He can take important steps to make America energy dominant again by ending the pause on LNG exports and reversing the all-of-government assault on American energy. He can begin to get our economy back on track by slashing certain regulations and making the administrative state more efficient.

But it will take the unique legislative tool of budget reconciliation to lock in the broader reforms necessary to Make America Great Again. Now it is up to us to work closely with Trump to enact the legislation that will provide long-term relief and put our country on a sustainable trajectory. In the first 100 days, House Republicans will advance a bold, conservative agenda that will get the economy back on track, lock in low tax rates, and secure our southern border.

• We will lock in the Trump Tax Cuts to drive economic growth to protect struggling families from an unprecedented tax hike.

• We will unleash American energy by mandating lease sales, opening federal lands like ANWR to increased energy exploration and production, and repealing harmful slush funds and policies Democrats jammed through in their so-called “Inflation Reduction Act.”

• We will surge resources to the southern border to build the Trump Border Wall, acquire new detection technologies, bolster our Border Patrol, and stop the flow of illegal immigration.

Importantly, unified control provides us with a historic opportunity to use the budget reconciliation process to accomplish our goals with simple majorities in both Chambers. This is an ambitious agenda, but I served alongside President Trump four years ago and I have the experience we need to deliver.

As Majority Whip in the 115th Congress, I worked closely with President Trump to unify our Conference behind two budget reconciliation packages, most notably the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that delivered an economic boom not seen in decades. Next Congress, we will be closely aligned with President Trump and Senate Republicans every step of the way to ensure success. I have already met with President Trump multiple times during the last year to discuss our shared goals so we will be ready to begin this work quickly and hit the ground running on day one in January.

Earlier this summer, I began working with our Committees to plan and prepare for reconciliation. Work is underway on drafting and scoring legislation, and we are coordinating with our Senate partners on our House Republican priorities. Soon we will begin listening sessions to incorporate the diverse views of Member across our Conference in this process. Though there are Senate rules limiting what we can fit in budget reconciliation, I want us to be bold and creative so we can include as many reforms in this package as possible. Democrats expanded what traditionally is allowed in reconciliation and we intend to do the same. Now is the time to go big to advance conservative policies that will make our country prosperous and secure again.

Congressional Review Act. The CRA provides us with a unique opportunity to roll back excessive Biden-Harris regulations. In the 115th Congress, I was part of the team that unified our Conference behind a record-breaking 16 CRA resolutions of disapproval to Obama regulations. Next Congress, we will aggressively use the CRA to do the same. Repealing regulations will provide immediate relief, but also future certainty. By using this process, we prohibit agencies from reissuing the same or “substantially similar” regulations in the future, so it will be pivotal we work closely with President Trump to prioritize specific regulations. For the 119th Congress, the CRA “lookback period” will likely extend sometime into August. We also expect the Biden Administration to promulgate a flurry of midnight rules in the next few months that will likely include new student loan forgiveness, new restrictions on consumer choice, new attacks on American energy, and more that will be ripe for us to target.

Government Efficiency. Our administrative state has been weaponized against the very people it exists to serve. Freedom of speech and religion, and the right to keep and bear arms have been under relentless attack. With unified control, we can finally do something about it. Next Congress, I will work closely with the Trump Administration to make government more efficient and ensure it works for the American people, not against them. Like Elon Musk did with the “Twitter Files,” we will work hand-in-glove with the Trump Administration to expose Biden's abuses and pursue reforms to rein in the administrative state. We will work closely with the Trump Administration to identify areas we can eliminate or streamline and develop reforms to prevent future administrations from perpetrating abuses.

Government Spending. Our government spending is out of control. Two trillion dollar deficits are unacceptable and unsustainable. The status quo cannot continue. This Congress, I provided a schedule and process that ensured our ability to consider each individual appropriations bill, but divided government prevented us from achieving our conservative goals. It will be critical that we bend the curve of spending and enact real, long-lasting reforms. Next Congress, I will work closely with President Trump to build on the progress we made to enact a conservative approach with reforms to our process that will finally put us on a fiscally responsible path.

Bold Conservative Agenda. This Congress, I managed the Floor and Committees as I promised I would. We prioritized key issues like the economy, border security, and energy while swiftly responding to current events. We restored regular order. We worked through our Committees, not around them. We brought together different voices from across our diverse Conference and implemented a bottom-up approach to deliver signature legislation like H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act, H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act, and H.R. 5, the Parents Bill of Rights. Next Congress, we will work closely with President Trump and members across the Conference to use the same model to advance a bold America First agenda in addition to what we prioritize in reconciliation that will include:

• Election integrity, including proof of citizenship requirements and, if necessary, reforms to the “equal time” rule to ensure it cannot be abused by networks to prop up their preferred candidate days before the election.

• Eliminating woke ideologies that put special interests over people and prosperity.

• Prioritizing parents and choice, not Union Bosses, in their children's education.

• Holding colleges and universities accountable for the wave of virulent antisemitism some have tolerated.

• Protecting American's freedom of speech and religion and right to keep and bear arms.

• Standing with Israel in their fight against Iran and its terrorist proxies in the Middle East.

• Addressing national security threats posed by China through the China Select Committee and our standing Committees.

• Returning to the time-tested policy of peace through strength by restoring our military readiness and rebuilding our industrial base.

• Promoting American innovation, such as artificial intelligence, around the world to ensure we remain the global leader.

• Keeping government out of the way so innovation and the startup community can flourish.

• Establishing a regulatory framework for digital assets to allow this industry to grow with certainty.

• Protecting women's sports by prohibiting men from competing against women.

• Banning taxpayer funding for gender transition procedures, protecting children from these harmful practices, and keeping gender identity out of our children's schools.

• Reform health care spending to improve transparency and incentivize better outcomes at a lower cost.

I couldn't be prouder of what we've accomplished on the political front together this cycle. Thanks to the support of nearly a quarter-million donors, the Scalise Leadership Fund raised over $70 million this cycle — which went directly to candidates, members, the NRCC, and state parties. I've been all over this great country, traveling to 36 states, 112 cities, and 153 districts, standing alongside many of you to ensure our Team had the necessary resources to win. With over $25 million in direct investment from Team Scalise and $15.2 million in direct giving to the NRCC this cycle alone, I believe my track record shows my continued commitment to support each of you and our shared vision for a stronger America. Since elected, I have personally given over $72 million to the NRCC alone. I've also worked with various delegations to identify needs and worked tirelessly to fill those gaps throughout the cycle. Together we defeated dangerous initiatives like Issue 1 in Ohio to ensure that a Republican House majority can continue to deliver for the American people.

Each of us has been blessed with the chance to serve the American people at this critical moment in our country's history. We have a historic opportunity, one that very few Americans get. We must come together to deliver conservative results for the American people and get our country back on track. I am asking for your support to continue to serve as Majority Leader so we can save this great Nation together.

God Bless,

Steve Scalise