Originally Posted in The Hill on March 16, 2025. 

Republican lawmakers who are jubilant about President Trump’s flurry of executive orders and actions reshaping the government are staring down a challenge: making those changes last by turning them into law.

For now, the GOP majorities in Congress are largely happy to cede power to the executive branch as Trump tests the limits of his executive authority.

But as court challenges and future elections threaten to undo those actions, these lawmakers are strategizing about how to cement them into legislation and then law.

House Republicans in the Republican Study Committee (RSC), the largest caucus of conservatives, launched a “Set in Stone” initiative to start to identify Trump policies to write into law and pass them through Congress.

That’s not an easy task. With few exceptions, lasting policy changes would need to clear a 60-vote threshold to advance in the Senate, necessitating support from at least seven Democrats who have no incentive to help Trump secure legislative wins. 

But Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas), chair of the Republican Study Committee, says this is just the start of working with congressional leadership to identify opportunities.

“We have identified a handful of bills knowing that some of them are challenging to get across the finish line, but understanding that the American people elected Donald Trump to do these types of things,” Pfluger said.

Those bills include the Dismantle DEI Act, led by Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas), to end diversity, equity, and inclusion practices in the federal government; the Birthright Citizenship Act, led by Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas), to not provide automatic citizenship to people born to noncitizen parents who do not have permanent residency status; and Rep. Brandon Gill’s (R-Texas) bill to codify the “Remain in Mexico” policy.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) also has bills to make English the official language of the United States, to codify the Gulf of America name change, and the Protect Children’s Innocence Act outlawing gender-affirming surgery for minors.

“We’re calling for swift floor votes in both the House and the Senate on these critical pieces of legislation,” Pfluger said in a press conference. “The new golden age and America isn’t just a slogan. It’s a promise to the American people.”

Yet one of the bills being pushed by the new initiative shows the challenge of getting any of the measures across the finish line and codified.