Presented by BP.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Zach Stanton. It is Friday, January 17th, and here's what's

driving the day. We're in the final few days here of the Biden presidency, and the new Trump

administration is really coming into focus. First, if we look at the Republican House, it's yet another day

and yet another intra-party boxing match over how to pass the Trump agenda. The House Freedom

Caucus formalized their push for a two-step reconciliation plan in a new proposal yesterday,

calling for an initial bill that includes border security and addresses the debt ceiling and a second

package that's focused on tax cuts. Now that, of course, runs counter to the route favored by House

Speaker Mike Johnson, who prefers to pursue a bipartisan vote to raise the debt ceiling and to marry

the tax and border security measures in one big, beautiful bill, to use Trump's term. And though the House

Freedom Caucus said they're willing to work with the Republican colleagues on a solution here,

Johnson is still stuck between Iraq and a hard place because he needs the Freedom Caucus's votes

in order to pass any legislation through his chamber with such a narrow majority right now.

Now, on the other side of the House Freedom Caucus on this particular issue is House Ways and

Means Chairman Jason Smith, who thinks that splitting the package into two bills is too risky,

and our own chief playbook correspondent Eugene Daniels sat down with him yesterday to chat about

his vision for reconciliation and myriad other topics

related to what to expect during these next four years here with President-elect Donald Trump

captain the ship once again. You can hear their interview on today's episode of Playbook Deep

Dive, which is out now and you can find it wherever you get your podcasts. Second, the Senate meets

today to continue consideration of the Laken Riley Act, which they want

to be one of the first bills Trump signs after he's sworn in.

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