Latest news with #HouseWays&MeansCommittee
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Dems divided on Trump's executive order aimed at slashing drug prices
President Donald Trump's executive order aimed at slashing U.S. drug prices has divided Democrats on Capitol Hill, with some cautiously optimistic while others dismissed the move as a bluster. Most Democratic lawmakers who spoke with Fox News Digital about the order noted they had not read into the details, but the reactions were mostly split. "It certainly seems more bark than it is bite," Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., the top Democrat on the House Ways & Means Committee, told Fox News Digital. Neal said it "strikes me as though it's another example of the executive order that garners a lot of attention" with little impact, though he noted he was still looking into the details. Anti-abortion Provider Measure In Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' Could Spark House Gop Rebellion Rep. George Latimer of New York, a first-term Democrat who unseated a former member of the progressive "Squad," ex-Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., signaled he was hopeful about the initiative. Read On The Fox News App "If we can keep drug costs low, that's a positive thing," Latimer said. "I don't, you know, oppose everything the president does, things that help people lower costs. If that's what this turns into, then yes, it's a worthwhile idea. But I have to be honest, I've got to read it more closely to understand it better." Trump announced Monday that he was directing the Department of Health and Human Services to set price targets for pharmaceutical companies. The president said the order would have pharmaceutical companies set drug prices on par with the lowest prices in other developed countries. He said, "some prescription drug and pharmaceutical prices will be reduced almost immediately by 50 to 80 to 90%." Democratic Rep. Lou Correa, D-Calif., told Fox News Digital when asked about the order, "It's always a good thing to reduce drug costs." "I think it's a move in the right direction, let's just see the details," Correa added. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, like Neal, told Fox News Digital he was more skeptical. "My feeling is that, like his…announcements during his first term, there's much talk and no meaningful reduction of drug prices," Doggett said. "It remains to be seen whether any patient in America will see a price reduced on a single drug as a result of this order. So, until I see action, I will not believe that he has truly committed to reducing prices." House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., also said he did not believe Trump was "serious" when asked. "All of this is just a disingenuous effort…on the part of House Republicans and Donald Trump, to pretend like they were looking out for people," Aguilar said. "If they were serious about it, the policy would be placed within their reconciliation bill. It's not. This is just a performance effort by the president." Brown University In Gop Crosshairs After Student's Doge-like Email Kicks Off Frenzy Meanwhile, Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., introduced a House bill to make Trump's order permanent. "I rise today, to introduce as legislation, President Trump's executive order for the most favored nation status on drug pricing," Khanna said on the House floor. "My legislation will codify President Trump's executive order, which basically says that Americans should not pay more for drugs than people in other countries and other parts of the world." In an exclusive Fox News interview with Sean Hannity, Trump argued that his executive order should offset Democrats' concerns with his "big, beautiful" budget reconciliation bill being pushed by Republicans. Democrats have accused Republicans of using the bill to gut critical programs like Medicaid for millions of people who need it, while the GOP has contended it was just trying to eliminate waste and abuse within the system. "It's the Democrats' fault that people are being ripped off for years and years. And now I hear Democrats saying, 'Oh, well, we're going to not go for the bill.' It's going to be very hard for them not to approve of the big, beautiful bill that we're doing," Trump said. "We're doing the biggest tax cuts in the history of our country because people are going to be getting a 50 to a 90% reduction on drug prices." When reached for comment on Democrats' responses, White House spokesman Kush Desai told Fox News Digital, "Democrats talk; President Trump delivers. Instead of again putting politics over the American people, Democrats should work with the Trump administration to build on the President's historic action to lower drug prices and end global freeriding off the backs of Americans."Original article source: Dems divided on Trump's executive order aimed at slashing drug prices
Fox News
15-05-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Dems divided on Trump's executive order aimed at slashing drug prices
President Donald Trump's executive order aimed at slashing U.S. drug prices has divided Democrats on Capitol Hill, with some cautiously optimistic while others dismissed the move as a bluster. Most Democratic lawmakers who spoke with Fox News Digital about the order noted they had not read into the details, but the reactions were mostly split. "It certainly seems more bark than it is bite," Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., the top Democrat on the House Ways & Means Committee, told Fox News Digital. Neal said it "strikes me as though it's another example of the executive order that garners a lot of attention" with little impact, though he noted he was still looking into the details. Rep. George Latimer of New York, a first-term Democrat who unseated a former member of the progressive "Squad," ex-Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., signaled he was hopeful about the initiative. "If we can keep drug costs low, that's a positive thing," Latimer said. "I don't, you know, oppose everything the president does, things that help people lower costs. If that's what this turns into, then yes, it's a worthwhile idea. But I have to be honest, I've got to read it more closely to understand it better." Trump announced Monday that he was directing the Department of Health and Human Services to set price targets for pharmaceutical companies. The president said the order would have pharmaceutical companies set drug prices on par with the lowest prices in other developed countries. He said, "some prescription drug and pharmaceutical prices will be reduced almost immediately by 50 to 80 to 90%." Democratic Rep. Lou Correa, D-Calif., told Fox News Digital when asked about the order, "It's always a good thing to reduce drug costs." "I think it's a move in the right direction, let's just see the details," Correa added. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, like Neal, told Fox News Digital he was more skeptical. "My feeling is that, like his…announcements during his first term, there's much talk and no meaningful reduction of drug prices," Doggett said. "It remains to be seen whether any patient in America will see a price reduced on a single drug as a result of this order. So, until I see action, I will not believe that he has truly committed to reducing prices." House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., also said he did not believe Trump was "serious" when asked. "All of this is just a disingenuous effort…on the part of House Republicans and Donald Trump, to pretend like they were looking out for people," Aguilar said. "If they were serious about it, the policy would be placed within their reconciliation bill. It's not. This is just a performance effort by the president." Meanwhile, Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., introduced a House bill to make Trump's order permanent. "I rise today, to introduce as legislation, President Trump's executive order for the most favored nation status on drug pricing," Khanna said on the House floor. "My legislation will codify President Trump's executive order, which basically says that Americans should not pay more for drugs than people in other countries and other parts of the world." In an exclusive Fox News interview with Sean Hannity, Trump argued that his executive order should offset Democrats' concerns with his "big, beautiful" budget reconciliation bill being pushed by Republicans. Democrats have accused Republicans of using the bill to gut critical programs like Medicaid for millions of people who need it, while the GOP has contended it was just trying to eliminate waste and abuse within the system. "It's the Democrats' fault that people are being ripped off for years and years. And now I hear Democrats saying, 'Oh, well, we're going to not go for the bill.' It's going to be very hard for them not to approve of the big, beautiful bill that we're doing," Trump said. "We're doing the biggest tax cuts in the history of our country because people are going to be getting a 50 to a 90% reduction on drug prices." Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for a response.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
GOP, Dems to square off over Trump's sweeping tax plan in high-stakes meeting today
The House committee tasked with writing the U.S. tax code is meeting on Tuesday afternoon to advance one of the most significant portions of President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill." A sweeping piece of legislation unveiled by the House Ways & Means Committee on Monday would follow through on Trump's campaign promises to eliminate taxes on tips and overtime pay, as well as permanently extending the president's 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), among other provisions. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said he wants House Republicans to pass their version of Trump's bill by Memorial Day or "shortly thereafter," as he told Fox News Digital in an interview late last month. House and Senate Republicans are working on Trump's agenda via the budget reconciliation process, which allows the party in power to sideline the minority by lowering the Senate's threshold for passage to a simple majority, provided the legislation at hand deals with spending, taxes or the national debt. Anti-abortion Provider Measure In Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' Could Spark House Gop Rebellion Ways & Means Committee lawmakers are expected to meet for at least several hours on Tuesday to mark up debate on the bill. Read On The Fox News App It could go even longer, however. A Ways & Means Committee markup meeting in 2021, when Democrats were trying to pass Build Back Better, lasted over 35 hours over four days due to Republicans dragging the process out in opposition to then-President Joe Biden's progressive tax policies. Democrats are expected to put up an aggressive fight on Tuesday as well, having already accused Trump of trying to cut taxes for the wealthy while gutting critical programs for low-income Americans. Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., a member of the committee, posted on X on Monday, "Going over line-by line last minute 389-page amendment to the Republican tax bill in our committee today. They have provisions that touch everyone: the richest people get huge tax cuts, working people lose their healthcare and future generations get the bill because it adds $5 trillion to the national debt!" However, Republicans have insisted their tax bill champions the working and middle classes, pointing to Trump's elimination of tips on tax and overtime pay as evidence points. A portion released by the House Ways & Means Committee over the weekend would increase the current maximum Child Tax Credit from $2,000 to $2,500. Trump's TCJA had doubled the maximum from $1,000 to $2,000 in 2017. It would also boost the maximum deduction for qualified business income, a tax provision known as 199A, from 20% to 22%. That would largely affect small business owners whose entities are taxed under individual income tax rates. Trump's promise to eliminate taxes on Social Security for retirees is tackled via giving seniors a higher standard deduction. "It puts the interests of low-income, working families ahead of the wealthy by expanding tax relief to those who need it the most – including the President's priorities of no tax on tips and overtime pay and additional relief for America's seniors," House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., said in a statement. The legislation also cracks down on big colleges and universities, including Ivy Leagues like Harvard University, which are locked in a battle over free speech with the White House. It is targeting those larger schools with higher excise taxes, which are federal duties paid on net earnings of the schools' investments. That rate is currently 1.4%, but the legislation would bring it to as high as 21% for the largest schools, like Harvard and Yale University. House Republicans Release Tax Plan For Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' The nearly 400-page legislation must pass the Ways & Means Committee on Tuesday before being added back to a larger legislative framework, which will include similar bills from 10 other House committees dealing with policies under their jurisdiction. The House Energy & Commerce Committee, for instance, is also meeting on Tuesday afternoon to advance its portion of the bill. The broad-ranging committee has jurisdiction over Medicaid, Medicare, energy production and telecommunications. The House Agriculture Committee, which oversees federal food programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, is meeting Tuesday evening to advance its portion. The full House and Senate must pass identical versions of the final bill before it gets to Trump's desk for a signature. Fox News' Tyler Olson contributed to this article source: GOP, Dems to square off over Trump's sweeping tax plan in high-stakes meeting today
Fox News
13-05-2025
- Business
- Fox News
GOP, Dems to square off over Trump's sweeping tax plan in high-stakes meeting today
The House committee tasked with writing the U.S. tax code is meeting on Tuesday afternoon to advance one of the most significant portions of President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill." A sweeping piece of legislation unveiled by the House Ways & Means Committee on Monday would follow through on Trump's campaign promises to eliminate taxes on tips and overtime pay, as well as permanently extending the president's 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), among other provisions. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said he wants House Republicans to pass their version of Trump's bill by Memorial Day or "shortly thereafter," as he told Fox News Digital in an interview late last month. House and Senate Republicans are working on Trump's agenda via the budget reconciliation process, which allows the party in power to sideline the minority by lowering the Senate's threshold for passage to a simple majority, provided the legislation at hand deals with spending, taxes or the national debt. Ways & Means Committee lawmakers are expected to meet for at least several hours on Tuesday to mark up debate on the bill. It could go even longer, however. A Ways & Means Committee markup meeting in 2021, when Democrats were trying to pass Build Back Better, lasted over 35 hours over four days due to Republicans dragging the process out in opposition to then-President Joe Biden's progressive tax policies. Democrats are expected to put up an aggressive fight on Tuesday as well, having already accused Trump of trying to cut taxes for the wealthy while gutting critical programs for low-income Americans. Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., a member of the committee, posted on X on Monday, "Going over line-by line last minute 389-page amendment to the Republican tax bill in our committee today. They have provisions that touch everyone: the richest people get huge tax cuts, working people lose their healthcare and future generations get the bill because it adds $5 trillion to the national debt!" However, Republicans have insisted their tax bill champions the working and middle classes, pointing to Trump's elimination of tips on tax and overtime pay as evidence points. A portion released by the House Ways & Means Committee over the weekend would increase the current maximum Child Tax Credit from $2,000 to $2,500. Trump's TCJA had doubled the maximum from $1,000 to $2,000 in 2017. It would also boost the maximum deduction for qualified business income, a tax provision known as 199A, from 20% to 22%. That would largely affect small business owners whose entities are taxed under individual income tax rates. Trump's promise to eliminate taxes on Social Security for retirees is tackled via giving seniors a higher standard deduction. "It puts the interests of low-income, working families ahead of the wealthy by expanding tax relief to those who need it the most – including the President's priorities of no tax on tips and overtime pay and additional relief for America's seniors," House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., said in a statement. The legislation also cracks down on big colleges and universities, including Ivy Leagues like Harvard University, which are locked in a battle over free speech with the White House. It is targeting those larger schools with higher excise taxes, which are federal duties paid on net earnings of the schools' investments. That rate is currently 1.4%, but the legislation would bring it to as high as 21% for the largest schools, like Harvard and Yale University. The nearly 400-page legislation must pass the Ways & Means Committee on Tuesday before being added back to a larger legislative framework, which will include similar bills from 10 other House committees dealing with policies under their jurisdiction. The House Energy & Commerce Committee, for instance, is also meeting on Tuesday afternoon to advance its portion of the bill. The broad-ranging committee has jurisdiction over Medicaid, Medicare, energy production and telecommunications. The House Agriculture Committee, which oversees federal food programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, is meeting Tuesday evening to advance its portion. The full House and Senate must pass identical versions of the final bill before it gets to Trump's desk for a signature.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
GOP leaders find new major holiday deadline for Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' amid Medicaid, tax divisions
Some Republican leaders are hoping they can pass a massive bill codifying President Donald Trump's agenda into federal law by the Fourth of July. It means the sweeping policy overhaul could reach Trump's desk for a signature by the 250th anniversary of the United States' founding. "I've said all along, my goal is, is for the president to sign this one big, beautiful bill on July 4th," House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., told "Fox News Sunday." It comes as House Republicans struggle to reconcile differences on clean energy and Medicaid in talks to find at least $1.5 trillion in spending cuts to pay for Trump's tax policies. Scoop: Republicans Discuss Defunding 'Big Abortion' Like Planned Parenthood In Trump Agenda Bill Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters days earlier on Capitol Hill, "We've got three legs to the President's economic agenda: trade, tax and deregulation, and we hope that we can have this tax portion done by Fourth of July." Read On The Fox News App Republican lawmakers are working on a multitrillion-dollar piece of legislation aimed at advancing Trump's policies on tax, defense, energy, immigration, border security and at raising the debt limit. Trump's tax policies, a cornerstone of his platform and the costliest portion of the bill, include extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) and eliminating taxes on tips, overtime pay and retirees' social security. Republican leaders and tax hawks have warned that failing to extend TCJA by the time its provisions expire at the end of this year could result in a tax hike of over 20% for millions of families. House GOP leaders said in a letter to lawmakers dated April 5, "Immediately following House adoption of the budget resolution, our House and Senate committees will begin preparing together their respective titles of the reconciliation bill to be marked up in the next work period. As always, this will involve input from all Members and will keep us on track to send a bill to the President's desk by Memorial Day." Brown University In Gop Crosshairs After Student's Doge-like Email Kicks Off Frenzy However, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has since somewhat walked that goal back, telling reporters he believes the House can finish its portion by Memorial Day. "We are on track to pass the bill out of the House. As we've said from the very beginning, and get it over, to the next stage by Memorial Day," Johnson said during a press conference last week. He was optimistic about beating the early July goal after meeting with Bessent and other top lawmakers last Monday, however. "He says July 4 because that's a big, big birthday for us. And everybody knows that," Johnson said of Bessent's comments. "But I think – and I hope, and believe – that we can get it done sooner than that." A House GOP leadership aide told Fox News Digital that Johnson "stated his goal is to move the bill through the House by Memorial Day" and that it was "not in conflict" with sending a bill to Trump by July 4. When asked if that goal was feasible, Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., told Fox News Digital, "It's gonna have to be." Others who spoke with Fox News Digital were more skeptical. A senior House Republican aide told Fox News Digital, "Deadlines are so arbitrary in Congress. Passing the bill by Memorial Day was always a long shot, but moving the goalposts from Easter to Memorial Day to July 4 just shows weakness." "We better stick with this one, because the next federal holiday isn't until September!" the aide said. Republicans are not only racing the clock on the TCJA deadline, but also the possibility of a national credit default. The U.S. is expected to run out of cash to pay its debts sometime this summer, according to several projections – a somewhat murky deadline based on a number of factors, including yearly tax filings. Meet The Trump-picked Lawmakers Giving Speaker Johnson A Full House Gop Conference Hitting that date without acting on the debt limit would send domestic and global financial markets into turmoil. Republicans are looking to move Trump's agenda via the budget reconciliation process. By lowering the Senate's threshold for passage from 60 votes to 51, it allows the party in power to sideline the opposition, in this case Democrats, while passing legislation focused on spending, taxes and debt. After both the House and Senate passed budget "frameworks" earlier this year, the relevant committees named in the frameworks are working to write policy in line with the spending cut or surplus they are granted. Seven of 11 House committees have completed their work so far. However, three critical panels – the committees on Ways & Means, Agriculture, and Energy & Commerce – had to delay initial tentative plans to advance their portions this week. Republicans in blue states, who GOP leaders view as critical to keeping the majority, have raised alarms about cutting too deeply into Medicaid. It is under the jurisdiction of the Energy & Commerce Committee, which is tasked with finding $880 billion of the $1.5 trillion in spending cuts. Negotiators have insisted they are only interested in going after waste, fraud and abuse in the system, but it has not stopped Democrats from accusing the GOP of trying to cut critical healthcare programs for millions of Americans. Meanwhile, the committee is also going to have to decide on an ongoing battle between conservatives and blue state Republicans over whether to repeal some or all of the former Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) green energy tax subsidies. In March, 21 House Republicans signed a letter urging their colleagues to preserve the green energy tax credit. "Countless American companies are utilizing sector-wide energy tax credits – many of which have enjoyed broad support in Congress – to make major investments in domestic energy production and infrastructure for traditional and renewable energy sources alike," they wrote. The anti-IRA Republicans, however, said in a letter last week that the U.S.' growing green energy sector was the product of government handouts rather than genuine sustainable growth. "Leaving IRA subsidies intact will actively undermine America's return to energy dominance and national security," they said. "They are the result of government subsidies that distort the U.S. energy sector, displace reliable coal and natural gas and the domestic jobs they produce, and put the stability and independence of our electric grid in jeopardy." Negotiations are expected to continue this week. When reached for comment on whether the Senate could meet the Independence Day goal, a spokesperson for Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., pointed Fox News Digital to a recent interview where he signaled openness to the idea. "We have a similar target. And I think the House is, you know, they would like to, the speaker would like to have it out of the House by Memorial Day. And the Senate has a more complicated procedure that we have to go through when it comes to reconciliation that makes it harder and more complicated and takes a little bit longer time," Thune said. "But there's been a ton of work done already, and we're working closely with our counterparts in the House on all the relevant authorizing committees that have been instructed."Original article source: GOP leaders find new major holiday deadline for Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' amid Medicaid, tax divisions
