Latest news with #BrendanBoyle
Los Angeles Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Trump tax law could cause Medicare cuts if Congress doesn't act, CBO says
WASHINGTON — The federal budget deficits caused by President Trump's tax and spending law could trigger automatic cuts to Medicare if Congress does not act, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported Friday. The CBO estimates that Medicare, the federal health insurance program for Americans over age 65, could potentially see as much as $491 billion in cuts from 2027 to 2034 if Congress does not act to mitigate a 2010 law that forces across-the-board cuts to many federal programs once legislation increases the federal deficit. The latest report from CBO showed how Trump's signature tax and spending law could put new pressure on federal programs that are bedrocks of the American social safety net. Trump and Republicans pledged not to cut Medicare as part of the legislation, but the estimated $3.4 trillion that the law adds to the federal deficit over the next decade means that many Medicare programs could see cuts. In the past, Congress has always acted to mitigate cuts to Medicare and other programs, but it would take some bipartisan cooperation to do so. Democrats, who requested the analysis from CBO, jumped on the potential cuts. 'Republicans knew their tax breaks for billionaires would force over half a trillion dollars in Medicare cuts — and they did it anyway,' Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, said in a statement. 'American families simply cannot afford Donald Trump's attacks on Medicare, Medicaid and Obamacare.' Hospitals in rural parts of the country are already grappling with cuts to Medicaid, which is available to people with low incomes, and cuts to Medicare could exacerbate their shortfalls. As Republicans muscled the bill through Congress and are now selling it to voters back home, they have been critical of how the CBO has analyzed the bill. They have also argued that the tax cuts will spur economic growth and pointed to $50 billion in funding for rural hospitals that was included in the package. Groves writes for the Associated Press.
The Hill
11-08-2025
- Business
- The Hill
Budget office says GOP's ‘big beautiful bill' will make rich richer, poor poorer
The Republicans' 'big, beautiful bill' will make the poorest Americans even poorer, while padding the wallets of the highest earners the most, according to a new analysis released Monday by Congress's budget arm. The assessment, conducted by the Congressional Budget Office at the request of top Democrats, found that the top 10 percent of earners in the country will see an average boost of $13,600 per year over the next decade as a direct result of provisions in the law, while the bottom 10 percent will see an average annual decrease of $1,200. The report challenges the arguments made by President Trump and other Republicans that the massive domestic policy package would benefit workers at all levels of wealth and income. And it's given fuel to the attacks from Democrats that the legislation was, all along, designed to help the wealthiest people at the expense of the working poor. 'They just confirmed Trump is enriching his billionaire friends at the expense of American families,' Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), the senior Democrat on the House Budget Committee, posted Monday on X after the CBO report was released. 'It is the largest transfer of wealth from working Americans to the ultra-rich in history.' Enacted last month, the 'big, beautiful bill' was a compilation of virtually all of the major domestic policy items Trump had promised on his way to a presidential victory in November. It features an extension of the sweeping tax cuts Republicans had adopted in 2017, during Trump's first term, which were slated to expire at the end of the year, and provides a big boost in spending for border security, the military and domestic energy production. A portion of those new federal costs were offset by steep cuts in federal programs, including Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), previously known as food stamps, which benefit lower-income people. The law also puts new limits on ObamaCare subsidies and adopts new caps on federal student loans, which also affect lower-income people disproportionately. The CBO's analysis aims to gauge the cumulative effect of the various components of the law, as applied to households at differing income levels. Most workers will benefit from the law to some degree, largely due to the extension of the 2017 tax cuts, CBO found. High earners benefit the most — $13,600 for the top 10 percent, $3,200 for the next 10 percent below them — because they make the most money and tend not to receive benefits from the federal programs set to be cut. The 20 percent of workers in the middle of the income spectrum will also see a bump: between $800 and $1,200 per year over the next decade, CBO estimated. The lowest earners, however, will see a reduction in overall resources under the new law, largely because the cuts in federal programs like Medicaid and SNAP will eclipse any benefits, including the tax cuts, elsewhere in the bill. That negative trend is expected to hit those in the bottom 20 percent of earners, CBO said, resulting in a $1,200 reduction for the lowest 10 percent of incomes, and a $400 reduction for the 10 percent directly above them. Republicans have dismissed the CBO's projections in the past, arguing that they fail to take into account the broad economic boost provided by the tax cuts — a 'dynamic' benefit the Republicans say benefits people of all income levels.
NBC News
23-07-2025
- Business
- NBC News
Live updates: Judge denies DOJ request to unseal Epstein transcripts; House committee subpoenas Maxwell
The Democrats leading the House and Senate budget committees are introducing legislation today to abolish the debt limit as we know it. The bill would ensure that the Treasury Department could borrow money if necessary to meet U.S. obligations under the law, rather than needing Congress to pass legislation in what has become a perennial fight on Capitol Hill. The Debt Ceiling Reform Act, led by Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., and Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., would allow the treasury secretary to suspend the debt limit for two years. That could take effect 46 calendar days after Congress has been notified — unless Congress passes a law to prevent it during that window. Republicans raised the debt limit by $5 trillion in Trump's megabill, most likely resolving it through the 2026 midterm election.
Bloomberg
23-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Balance of Power: Early Edition 7/23/2025
On the early edition of Balance of Power, Bloomberg Washington Correspondent Joe Mathieu discusses the trade agreement struck between the US and Japan. On today's show, Democratic Congressman Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, Stonecourt Capital Partner Rick Davis, Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress Senior Democracy Fellow Jeanne Sheehan Zaino and Senior Counselor to the President and Director of the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy at The White House Peter Navarro. (Source: Bloomberg)
NBC News
23-07-2025
- Business
- NBC News
Live updates: Trump to deliver remarks on AI plans; White House scrambles to finish tariff deals
The Democrats leading the House and Senate budget committees are introducing legislation Wednesday to abolish the debt limit as we know it. The bill would ensure that the Treasury Department can borrow money if necessary to meet U.S. obligations under the law, rather than needing Congress to pass legislation in what's become a perennial fight on Capitol Hill. The Debt Ceiling Reform Act, led by Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., and Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., would allow the treasury secretary to suspend the debt limit for two years. That can take effect 46 calendar days after notifying Congress — unless Congress passes a law to prevent it during that window. Republicans raised the debt limit by $5 trillion in Trump's megabill, likely resolving it through the 2026 midterm election.
