Speaker of U.S. House of Representatives downplays Musk's influence on Trump's tax and budget bill
With an uncharacteristically feistiness, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Mike Johnson took clear sides Sunday in President Donald Trump's breakup with mega-billionaire Elon Musk.
The Republican House leader and staunch Trump ally said Musk's criticism of the GOP's massive tax and budget policy bill will not derail the measure, and he downplayed Musk's influence over the GOP-controlled Congress.
'I didn't go out to craft a piece of legislation to please the richest man in the world,' Johnson said on ABC's This Week. 'What we're trying to do is help hardworking Americans who are trying to provide for their families and make ends meet.'
Johnson said he has exchanged text messages with Musk since the former chief of Trump's Department of Government Efficiency came out against the GOP bill.
Musk called it an 'abomination' that would add to U.S. debts and threaten economic stability. He urged voters to flood Capitol Hill with calls to vote against the measure, which is pending in the Senate after clearing the House. His criticism sparked an angry social media back-and-forth with Trump, who told reporters over the weekend that he has no desire to repair his relationship with Musk.
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The speaker was dismissive of Musk's threats to finance opponents — even Democrats — of Republican members who back Trump's bill.
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'We've got almost no calls to the offices, any Republican member of Congress,' Johnson said. 'And I think that indicates that people are taking a wait and see attitude. Some who may be convinced by some of his arguments, but the rest understand: this is a very exciting piece of legislation.'
Johnson argued that Musk still believes 'that our policies are better for human flourishing. They're better for the U.S. economy. They're better for everything that he's involved in with his innovation and job creation and entrepreneurship.'
The speaker and other Republicans, including Trump's White House budget chief, continued their push back Sunday against forecasts that their tax and budget plans will add to annual deficits and thus balloon a national debt already climbing toward $40 trillion.
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Johnson insisted that Musk has bad information, and the speaker disputed the forecasts of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office that scores budget legislation. The bill would extend the 2017 Trump tax cuts, cut spending and reduce some other levies but also leave some 10.9 million more people without health insurance and spike deficits by $2.4 trillion over the decade, according to the CBO's analysis.
The speaker countered with arguments Republicans have made for decades: That lower taxes and spending cuts would spur economic growth that ensure deficits fall. Annual deficits and the overall debt actually climbed during the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, and during Trump's first presidency, even after sweeping tax cuts.
Russell Vought, who leads the White House Office of Budget and Management, said on Fox News Sunday that CBO analysts base their models of 'artificial baselines.' Because the 2017 tax law set the lower rates to expire, CBO's cost estimates, Vought argued, presuming a return to the higher rates before that law went into effect.
Vought acknowledged CBO's charge from Congress is to analyze legislation and current law as it is written. But he said the office could issue additional analyses, implying it would be friendlier to GOP goals. Asked whether the White House would ask for alternative estimates, Vought again put the burden on CBO, repeating that congressional rules allow the office to publish more analysis.
Other Republicans, meanwhile, approached the Trump-Musk battle cautiously.
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'As a former professional fighter, I learned a long time ago, don't get between two fighters,' said Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin on CNN's State of the Union.
He even compared the two billionaire businessmen to a married couple.
'President Trump is a friend of mine but I don't need to get, I can have friends that have disagreements,' Mullin said. 'My wife and I dearly love each other and every now and then, well actually quite often, sometimes she disagrees with me, but that doesn't mean that we can't stay focused on what's best for our family.
'Right now, there may be a disagreement but we're laser-focused on what is best for the American people.'
–with files from The Associated Press' Gary Fields
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