By David Lawder

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives speaker announced on Sunday his commitment to a “one big bill” strategy for advancing President Donald Trump’s tax-cut agenda and funding border and military priorities, despite a limited $340 billion budget plan unveiled by Senate Republicans on Friday.

Mike Johnson stated in an interview with Fox News Sunday that gathering a Republican consensus would take time due to the party’s slim House majority. However, they were determined to find savings to counterbalance the cost of extending the 2017 tax cuts expiring at year-end and other priorities, such as eliminating taxes on tips.

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham rolled out a plan on Friday, which includes an $85.5 billion funding boost over four years for border security, migrant deportations, and military expenditures, deferring the tax cuts extension to a subsequent bill.

Johnson emphasized, “Well, I talk with the president and his team about this almost constantly, reminding them that we will get the job done, but it has to be the one big bill strategy.”

He indicated that the House Budget Committee had initially planned to review the Republican budget resolution next week, but could delay it as the specifics are critical. Johnson noted the necessity of achieving agreement among House Republicans, who hold a slim 218-215 majority. The party intends to utilize a budget procedure allowing them to pass fiscal legislation with just a simple Senate majority, meaning he cannot lose more than one Republican vote.

Budget forecasters predict that maintaining current individual tax rates could cost over $4 trillion over the next decade, with some estimates exceeding $11 trillion to implement Trump’s full tax agenda.

Johnson reiterated that House Republicans are focused on identifying offsetting savings to prevent increasing federal deficits, stating, “We’re going to make sure that we find the offsets to do this in a responsible manner.”