At the GOP conference’s weekly meeting Wednesday, sources told the Washington Examiner that several hard-liners, including those from the Freedom Caucus, stepped up for an “honest conversation” on where the party is with reconciliation. This comes after many Republicans left Doral, Florida, where the GOP issues retreat was held last week, feeling disappointed that leadership did not deliver the promised “blueprint” for a budget resolution.

But GOP lawmakers are finding it difficult to settle on a top-line number for the budget resolution that, once passed by both chambers of Congress, can unlock reconciliation — a process that allows the party to bypass the filibuster in the Senate and more quickly implement President Donald Trump‘s policies on the border, taxes, energy, and more.

Leadership has pushed for the budget reconciliation top line to be a “floor” and not a ceiling. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) told reporters Tuesday night that they are “close to” $1 trillion in cuts over a decade, raising the floor from the $500 billion in cuts recommended to members Sunday following the GOP retreat.

But that is not enough for some members, including Reps. Chip Roy (R-TX) and Ralph Norman (R-SC), who argue the top line needs to be higher and closer to $2 trillion or even $2.5 trillion — the latter figure initially agreed upon during the spending battle in December 2024, Roy said.

A source in the conference meeting confirmed to the Washington Examiner that several members floated the $2.5 trillion in cuts. Norman, who sits on the House Budget Committee, reaffirmed his position that he is in favor of $2 trillion or higher in cuts.

Roy pointed out that a $2.5 trillion cut would amount to $250 billion a year in spending restraint over 10 years, whereas a $1 trillion cut would be only $100 billion a year in cuts.

“$1 trillion is too low … we think that’s serious, but we’re $36 trillion in debt?” Roy said. “That’s insane.”

Roy added that he thinks the Republican conference needs to approve the $2.5 trillion that they “sat in that room and voted on” last year.

“So, deliver,” Roy said. “That’ll unlock the door.”

Leadership has continued to point out to reporters and their own GOP members that Republicans can make more cuts than the floor set on the resolution — it is when the top line acts as a ceiling that the process becomes complicated.

Scalise acknowledged there is a “lot of back and forth,” particularly when it comes to each committee determining its own set of cuts. During the GOP retreat, committee chairs held breakout sessions to outline areas under their jurisdiction that required spending cuts.

The majority leader said if a committee estimates $200 billion in spending cuts but can only produce $190 billion, that could derail the reconciliation process — particularly as Republicans weigh their numbers against the spending estimates from the Congressional Budget Office.

“So that’s why you have to go through and make sure your floor is a number you can feel comfortable CBO is going to back up,” Scalise said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) set an ambitious schedule for passing reconciliation by Memorial Day, hoping to get a budget resolution on the House floor and passed by Feb. 24. But Republicans are unlikely to hit that deadline, as there is no longer a budget resolution markup expected this week, the Washington Examiner confirmed.

Scalise told reporters that leadership is aiming for a markup in the Budget Committee next week, but with the lack of a top-line agreement, it is likely a resolution will not be seen for some time.

Usher in the two-bill proposal from hard-liners: House GOP leaders have pushed for a one-bill solution, while Freedom Caucus members have joined colleagues in the Senate pushing for two bills. The Senate is looking to leapfrog the stalled House and start its own process.

Trump originally said he wanted “one big, beautiful bill” but later admitted he did not care how the process got done — he just wants his agenda enacted as quickly as possible.

The advantage with two bills, they argue, is to put wins up on the board immediately for things such as the border and energy. Then, the complicated nature of tax policy can be settled in the second bill, as the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is set to expire at the end of the year.

“If we can go land the plane [with one bill], never had a problem with that,” Roy said. “But we need spending restraint, and if we’re not going to get the spending restraint, then we’re not going to land the one-bill plane.

“The reason I wanted two bills is just to bank away and get it done and move quickly,” the Texas Republican added. “I thought we could have done that in December, but here we are in February.”

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) reportedly expressed his frustrations with the reconciliation process to Johnson during Wednesday’s meeting. A lawmaker characterized it as “rudeness” and told the Daily Beast he was “angry at the time it was taking.”

“Seeing ghosts, being afraid of this boogeyman in this corner of the conference — we’ve got to get away from that,” Donalds told reporters. “We’ve got to fund the government on March 14. We need to get concrete strategies and strategies on the table.”

The Florida Republican reinforced the need for a two-bill strategy.

“I think we’re stuck in the mud,” Donalds said. “It’s a paralysis of analysis, and I think, at this point, we need to just make a clear decision.”