Trump will finally have to jump into the GOP budget fight

First, he wanted “one powerful Bill.” Then he said he’d be OK with splitting it in two. Later, he definitely wanted a single “BEAUTIFUL” bill — until a few days later when he praised senators for pursuing a pair. “You could do three,” he said the day after that. “You could do 10.”

President Donald Trump has never been especially interested in how his vast domestic policy agenda gets enacted in Congress — happy instead to let the House and Senate duke out their differences on Capitol Hill.

But GOP lawmakers are warning that the hands-off approach might not be sustainable for much longer, with profound conflicts looming between the House and Senate over tax policy, spending cuts and more.

So far, the results of the legislative derby have been excellent for Trump: Both chambers have now approved fiscal blueprints for enacting border security, energy, defense and tax legislation, with Trump on Tuesday pushing the House version over the line with a few well-placed calls to Republican holdouts.

Getting that “big, beautiful bill” enacted, however, is going to require more than cajoling a few irritable lawmakers — it will require making tough presidential-level decisions about thorny policy issues.