Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., wants Republicans to take advantage of their majority and use the budget reconciliation process again to tackle affordability. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
But it’s a Pandora’s box that lawmakers have been hesitant to reopen after narrowly advancing the colossal tax package over the summer.
"I have been preaching as persuasively as I can for months now that we need to do another reconciliation, and in that bill, we need to address things like rules and regulations, which add about $2 trillion to the cost of goods and services," Kennedy said.
He acknowledged that the process could be tricky, given that it is governed by the Byrd Rule, which nixes any provisions that don’t have a budgetary impact, but noted that lawmakers have at least two more attempts to take advantage of the process while Republicans still control both chambers of Congress.
TRUMP INSISTS PRICES ARE ‘COMING DOWN,’ BLAMES BIDEN — BUT VOTERS SAY THEY’RE STILL GETTING SQUEEZED
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks at a Senate GOP leadership press conference. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., one of the architects of Senate Republicans’ healthcare proposal that failed last week, told reporters, "The calendar precludes getting something done this week," but was still optimistic about finding a way to deal with rising costs on the healthcare front.
"But, still, a commitment to work together is a lot of progress," he said.
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Still, Kennedy was ardent that lawmakers had spent little time since passing Trump’s "big, beautiful bill," taking advantage of their majority in Congress.
"Yes, we passed the ‘one big, beautiful bill,’ that was July 1, five months ago, now, almost six months ago," he said. "We need to act. And I'm hoping that after the holidays, my friend, Senator [John] Thune, and he is a friend, and I think he's doing a great job, but I think Senator, I hope Senator Thune will relent and agree to another reconciliation bill that addresses the cost-of-living issue."
Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/kennedy-urges-gop-restart-spending-battle-amid-soaring-cost-living-warns-against-wasting-majority